A MESSAGE FROM MFTA PRESIDENT JOHN LEVY
ON CORONAVIRUS GUIDELINES

On behalf of all of us at the Minnesota Food Truck Association, let me express our heartfelt concerns for all of those who have been impacted by this challenging and unprecedented pandemic. As you know, things are changing at an incredible speed and there's no question that the virus has profoundly changed life for all of us. And things are likely to get worse before they get better. As of the writing of this note, which is Sunday evening, March 15th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a recommendation that there should be no gatherings of 50 or more people in the United States for the next eight weeks.

I want to assure our entire community that we at the Minnesota Food Truck Association are and will be regularly monitoring developments and will attempt to issue additional notices as they become necessary or appropriate.

Besides the immediate health impact and concerns, I know that many in our community are super worried about the economic effects this pandemic is going to have on our businesses. There's no getting around it, it's going to have a significant effect. We want to assure our team members, employees and customers that we're doing everything we can to comply with the guidelines provided by the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure the safety of our community.

All of us at the Minnesota Food Truck Association are committed to safely serving our community and making a difference for our members, sponsors, employees, partners, customers and community We want to assure all that we are taking every precaution necessary to maintain a clean and healthy environment exceeding or conforming to the requirements of applicable health department guidelines.

Commitment to Good Hygiene Practices.

As a general matter we are always practicing good hygiene, but in the present circumstances we’re being extra vigilant to protect employees, customers and other visitors to our trucks, including the following basic infection prevention measures:

• Frequent and thorough hand washing
• Availability of Purell and similar hand sanitizers
• Wearing of Disposable gloves
• Encouraging respiratory etiquette, including covering coughs and sneezes, and providing easy access to tissues and no-touch trash bins
• Discouraging use of other workers’ phones, desks, offices, or other work tools and equipment
• Establishing routine cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces, equipment, and other areas of the work environment
• Where appropriate, mandatory screening of employees; and Requiring workers to stay home if they are sick.

Conclusion. This is a challenging time for all of us. We’re trying to do whatever we can to help to protect and care for our community. Please be sure to let us know if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions.

Thanks, John Levy