How Anchorage-area businesses and organizations are dealing with coronavirus

Update, 11 a.m. Monday: Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz on Monday signed an emergency order ceasing dine-in food and drink service at restaurants, bars and breweries. (Still allowed: drive-thru, takeout and delivery services.) Buffets and salad bars will be closed to self-service. Entertainment facilities like theaters, gyms and bingo halls will be closed, and events and gatherings of 50 or more people will be prohibited.

The changes take effect at 5 p.m. Monday and run through March 31. Read more about the emergency order in this story.

Original story:

Amid growing concern nationally over the potential spread of the novel coronavirus, and in the aftermath of the first positive case in the state, Southcentral Alaska businesses and organizations this week have been taking steps to limit the spread of COVID-19. (Already, dozens of events around the state have been canceled or postponed, from conferences and concerts to sporting events and festivals.) That means social distancing, changes in normal routines and closures are all now in play.

What other changes are you seeing at businesses? What other closures have we missed? Let us know at newstips@adn.com.

Maintaining internet connectivity

GCI and Alaska Communications, two of the state’s largest internet service providers, announced Friday that they would be joining companies nationwide in taking measures to ensure access for residential and small business customers over the next 60 days. Those measures include waiving late payment fees and not ending service for those who can’t pay their bills because of disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Closures

The Dome in Anchorage, one of the few large sports facilities not run by the city, announced it would be closed through March 30.

City facilities that will stay closed through at least March 31 include public libraries, municipal recreation centers, the Egan and Dena’ina Convention Centers, Sullivan Arena, the Anchorage Museum, the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts and municipal ice rinks, among others.

In Seward, the Alaska SeaLife Center was closing March 16 through 31 — but the outdoor areas of the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage remain open, and the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center near Portage appears to be open as well.

REI, which has locations in Anchorage and Fairbanks, announced that it will close its stores nationally from March 16 to 27; employees will still be paid through the closure, but events are canceled. Apple is closing its stores outside Greater China until March 27, but online support for customers is still available and hourly workers will still be paid. Lululemon, with one location in Anchorage, is closing stores across North America and Europe from March 16-27. Walmart announced nationally that it would limit store hours to 6 a.m.-11 p.m. until further notice. BareMinerals, with one location in Anchorage, is closing stores across North America from March 16 to 17, and employees will still be paid.

Girl Scouts of Alaska is suspending cookie sales at booths starting March 16, but Girl Scouts will still be able to sell to friends and family on an individual basis at the level they’re comfortable with. ENSTAR is closing its customer lobbies but said that won’t affect natural gas service and staff would be available by phone to assist customers.

Cleaning, sanitation and single-use items

Restaurants, breweries and bars, stores, banks, gyms and other businesses around Anchorage have been reaching out to customers, saying that they’re stepping up the cleaning and sanitation of hard surfaces, in addition to following other best practices issued by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes having employees stay home if they’re sick.

Snow City Cafe, Spenard Roadhouse, South Restaurant and Coffeehouse and Crush Bistro said Saturday that they’re providing most condiments in individual servings and no longer allowing the use of reusable coffee cups owned by patrons — two moves being adopted at restaurants and cafes across the country. Steamdot told customers they’re serving coffee in single-use cups, but they’ll still provide a discount to those who bring in reusable cups.

Some restaurants were encouraging to-go orders or highlighting delivery options for customers who didn’t want to dine in; for example, Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop has now added curbside pickup at its three locations. Others asked customers to use cashless payment if possible.

At least one restaurant suspended its lunch buffet: Bombay Deluxe Indian Restaurant, with locations in Midtown and South Anchorage, said it’s offering lunch specials instead. The national buffet chain Golden Corral, which has a location in Anchorage, said its locations are sanitizing “all key guest touch-points” and changing out all serving utensils every half hour.

The Dimond Center and Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall both said they were ratcheting up their cleaning and sanitation practices, and remaining open.

Buying restrictions

At big box stores such as Fred Meyer, Carrs and Costco, signs were posted limiting the number of certain in-demand products that each customer could buy. Some examples: hand soap, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, water, toilet paper, paper towels, cold and flu products and tissues.

Social distancing

Alaskans have been urged to practice social distancing, meaning we should avoid large social gatherings, avoid going out in public and avoid close contact with other people. Health experts said it’s one of the best ways to “flatten the curve” and prevent the overburdening of health care facilities.

Public celebrations of Mass were called off by the Archdiocese of Anchorage through March 27, in the middle of Lent. ChangePoint Alaska announced that it would live stream some Sunday worship services. Anchorage Baptist Temple said it will postpone its Sunday evening and Wednesday evening services.

Regal Cinemas, which operates theaters at Tikahtnu and Dimond in Anchorage, said it plans to fill theaters no more than half-capacity so there could be more space between moviegoers. Bear Tooth Theatrepub is also reducing total admissions to its showings by 50% “to offer more space between patrons.”

If you’re looking for something fresh to read or a movie to watch as you practice social distancing and stay away from public areas, the library is still an option — virtually. Although Anchorage’s public libraries will be closed, digital products are still available to borrow and staff will be available by phone or email to help users find and utilize those products.

What does social distancing look like at the state’s biggest ski area? At Girdwood’s Alyeska Resort, officials announced that they reduced capacity on the tram from 60 to 20 people, encouraged spacing out riders on chairlifts, canceled March events at the Sitzmark, limited pool capacity at the Hotel Alyeska and decreased seating in high-volume areas like restaurants and its day lodge. At Arctic Valley Ski Area in Anchorage, resort operators said they will issue refunds for advance lift-ticket purchases to people who are sick. (Up in Fairbanks, Moose Mountain ski area — which uses school buses to shuttle riders up the mountain, instead of a chairlift — will close for the rest of the season: “Although we have proceeded in earnest to try and follow the protocols recommended by the U.S. Center for Disease Control, we have come to realize that it is not entirely possible to keep separation distances and perfect disinfection in our buildings and especially our busses.")

The Alaska Club and Alaska Rock Gym both said they were increasing the frequency of their cleaning and encouraged members and visitors to decrease close contact. Both gyms remain open; while the rock gym on Saturday canceled its youth programs the week of March 16, the Alaska Club said Thursday that it would offer an extended spring break camp for youths since Anchorage schools would have an extended closure.