Social distancing guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, recommend that individuals stay at least six feet from others at all times – even in apartment buildings, which are essentially small communities. This can be difficult for larger families, but fortunately, there are a few tips and tricks to share with your tenants to help them abide by these social distancing guidelines.
Stay Home as Much as is Possible
Staying at home is very difficult for many families, and this is especially true for those who spent much of their time running to a practice, a rehearsal, a game, or another event. The sudden switch to a mostly sedentary life can even have an impact on mental health, but it is critical that families in apartment complexes abide by the guidelines. One thing you can do to help your tenants stay at home involves taping a list of online activities to each door, which is great for kids of all ages – and adults, too.
Schedule Times for Checking Mail
If your apartment building has one common mail area, then it may also help to slow the spread of coronavirus by providing residents with timeframes for checking their mail. Giving each floor a specific window is a great step, but if you only have a few families, providing them with two-hour windows where they will be the only families at the mailbox is even better. Though there’s no way to truly enforce this as a rule, making it a positive suggestion can certainly help, and most tenants – those who can – will be happy to oblige.
Clean Common Areas Frequently
Common areas like laundry facilities, elevators, stairwells, and even hallways should be cleaned and disinfected regularly to prevent the spread of coronavirus. You might choose to do this disinfecting yourself, but you can also hire an outside company to do it for you. The CDC has guidelines put in place for cleaning and disinfecting community areas correctly, so be sure that you follow these steps.
Close Playgrounds and Other Nonessential Common Areas
Closing pools and playgrounds can be heartbreaking. Kids who are home from school long to swim or play with friends, and it can be hard to take away their opportunities to do so. However, by closing these areas to your tenants and making them strictly off-limits, you are doing your part to prevent the spread of the virus, reducing the number of cases in your facility, and perhaps even saving lives.
Discourage Gatherings
Finally, it is also important to discourage gatherings on your property. You might find that some tenants meet outside in the parking lot or in hallways and lobbies to converse or simply feel a little less alone. Reminding your tenants to avoid congregating in groups and to stay six feet away from one another whenever possible is critical for keeping them safe. Part of this involves allowing only one family in elevators at a time and encouraging the use of stairwells whenever possible.
Keeping your tenants safe with social distancing can feel like a tremendous responsibility, but as long as you are taking the necessary steps to disinfect your property, actively doing what you can to prevent gatherings, and even offering suggestions for safer ways to have conversations or learn from home, you can feel confident that you are doing your part to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.
