HANOVER — Businesses in town are stocking up on cleaning supplies and updating their hygiene standards in response to the outbreak of the new coronavirus, COVID-19.
Jarett Berke, owner of Lou’s Bakery and Restaurant, said that employees now disinfect menus and payment tablets every time they are used by a customer, when previously it was customary to do so only “once or twice a day.”
“Right now we are focusing on prevention. … We’ve gone a step further in the dining room because if someone comes in and they’re sick, they can potentially get a lot of other people sick,” Berke said.
Jennifer Packard has worked at the restaurant Molly’s for 25 years and is the current acting general manager.
Read more: What you need to know about COVID-19 infections
“We bleach every possible surface and bought tons of supplies. … We talked to the team and said that if they feel something, just don’t come in,” Packard said.
Packard added that she double-checks everything from the ketchup bottles to the backs of chairs to make sure they are properly sanitized.
The increased precautions come in response to news on Wednesday that two employees of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center had tested positive for the virus.
The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth canceled the term’s last day of classes on Friday after learning that one of the D-H employees had attended a Tuck social event at the Engine Room in White River Junction, even after he was told to self-isolate. He later tested positive for the virus.
Since then, New Hampshire health officials have asked several people who may have had close contact with the man to self-isolate.
Mike Campbell owns the Hanover True Value hardware store, and he’s been stocking up on cleaning supplies to meet the heightened demand.
“We brought in 72 bottles (of hand sanitizer) yesterday, and they were gone by the end of the day. We got 60 more today; I’ve only got 10 left,” Campbell said Friday afternoon.
He added that Dartmouth College bought a large amount of cleaning supplies from his store on Thursday.
In addition to buying more cleaning supplies, the college changed serving practices at its flagship dining hall, the Class of 1953 Commons.
The dining hall had been largely self-serve until this week, but now it stations dining hall employees to serve food directly, in order to limit possible contamination.
Both restaurant owners acknowledged that hygiene is on customers’ minds now more than ever, but they said the outbreak thus far hasn’t noticeably affected their earnings.
Still, Berke is insulating his restaurant against the possibility that people stop going out to eat entirely.
Lou’s currently offers a service that prepares and delivers family-style meals. Berke said that in the case of a regional quarantine, “we would shift all of our manpower to doing delivery,” which he said would involve adding menu items to the meal delivery service and deploying waitstaff as delivery drivers.
“I see that as a way for us to stay in business and continue to make money and meet customers’ needs for food,” he said.
Packard was being careful not to panic.
“We’re trying to take steps but we’re also trying not to fall into paranoia. We’re trying to protect the community as much as we can … but not trying to throw up a red flag that Hanover is going to crumble,” said Packard. “If all else fails, a gallon of bleach and some paper towels work wonders.”
Rohan Chakravarty can be reached at rchakravarty@vnews.com.