With the majority of Ontario now in Stage 3, we want you to know that we’re ON it as you travel and are proud to be a safe, clean partner on your journey. We understand that these are unprecedented times, especially for travel, and assure you that ONroute is here for you and remains committed to doing our part to help make your journey smooth and enjoyable, especially as the province continues the gradual process of re-opening.
Further to the Government of Ontario’s recent direction detailing transitions to Stage 3, our various ONroute plazas are now subject to variances and/or regional orders meaning there are differences in operating protocols and procedures. Specifically:
· Contact Tracing Required At All Plazas – As of Friday, August 7, and in accordance with the Government of Ontario’s orders dated July 31, 2020, ONroute now has contact tracing requirements in place. As such, indoor dining areas at all ONroute locations will either remain closed or re-close, with outdoor patio seating remaining open. As a food service provider that offers seating, ONroute staff are required by law to record the contact details for all persons within a group, excluding children from the same household. We will not disclose these records with anyone except a Medical Officer of Health, or an Inspector under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, under section 2 of that Act. There are no exceptions to this policy for any reason.
· Mandatory Face Coverings – Further to various bylaw developments and regional health department orders, the majority of our ONroute plazas now require face coverings upon entrance (*except* Tilbury North and South). As such, all customers and employees at the applicable plazas will be required to wear face coverings to enter. Customers who do not wear them will be denied service and asked to leave. Exemptions are made for individuals with medical reasons, disabilities and children two and under - proof does not have to be provided.
As of Friday, July 31 the following ONroute plazas require that face coverings be worn upon entrance:
- Bainsville, Ingleside, Morrisburg, Mallorytown North and South – In accordance with the Eastern Ontario Health Unit’s order dated July 6
- Barrie and Innisfil – In accordance with the Simcoe Muskoka Public Health Department’s order dated July 7, 2020
- Cambridge North and South – In accordance with the Wellington/Dufferin/Guelph Public Health order dated June 10
- Ingersoll, Woodstock, West Lorne, Dutton – In accordance with the Southwestern Public Health Department’s order dated July 30
- King City and Maple – In accordance with the York Region Public Health Department’s order dated July 9
- Napanee and Odessa – In accordance with the Kingston, Frontenac, and Lennox & Addington Public Health Department’s order dated June 27
- Newcastle – In accordance with the Durham Region Public Health Department’s order dated July 6
- Port Hope – In accordance with the Haliburton, Kawartha and Pine Ridge Public Health Department’s order dated July 7
- Trenton North and South – In accordance with the Hasting Prince Edward Public Health Department’s order dated July 7
COVID-19 Precautionary Measures
ONroute continues to maintain the numerous precautionary measures we have implemented as part of our daily operations to limit the spread of COVID-19 in our plazas. These include, but are not limited to:
- Enhanced existing cleaning and sanitation measures
- Increased frequency of our cleaning and disinfecting routines
- Providing gloves for employee use in serving customers
- Providing masks for employee use
- Re-trained and continually re-emphasizing proper hand-washing protocols with our team members
- Actively take the temperatures of employees and ask screening questions before every shift and continue to advise all employees who feel unwell to stay home. Consistent with advice from local and national health authorities, we also require employees who have traveled recently to self-isolate at home. ONroute has waived any requirement to produce a doctor’s note during this time and we are actively working with our employees to monitor their well-being, support them during time away from work, and assist in managing their return when appropriate to do so.
- Moved to cashless transactions, accepting debit and credit for purchases
- Installed plexi-glass shields at our point-of-sale systems
- Increased signage to ensure appropriate social distancing for the public in our plazas
- Implemented new queue protocols to increase distance from counter staff
- Temporarily removed our children’s play areas
- Closed all indoor dining/seating areas, and where applicable by municipality, outdoor eating areas are now open as part of Phase 2
- Replaced all plastic trays with only take-out bags
- Moved all cream/sugar stations behind the counter
- Ensuring a separation of duties for employees handling cash and those handling food and beverages, with dedicated cashiers who handle cash only and dedicated food and beverage expeditors who handle and package food, where feasible; or, on shifts where staffing is lower, we require employees to change gloves between tasks
- We ask all customers who feel unwell to stay home and for those who have traveled recently to self-isolate at home for 14 days before visiting us again.
As an essential business, all 23 ONroute travel plazas remain open offering 24/7 access to washrooms, fuel, parking and food/beverage via take-out, grab and go, drive-through services, as well as greenspace areas and outdoor dining options at all locations. Some indoor dining areas have reopened as part of Stage 3, while others remain closed based on the ability for plazas to implement proper physical distancing.
We also continually monitor for updates from the Government of Ontario (ontario.ca/page/2019-novel-coronavirus) and the World Health Organization and adjust our policies and protocols as needed. If you have any questions, please contact Colleen Ryan at cryan@sussex-strategy.com.