Written By: Brandon Verastegui
Director of Millennials’ Era E-Mag
Edited By: Kirk Shelton
If you have followed the news and the livestreams of Governor Greg Abbott, then you should be well aware of his plan to reopen the Texas economy as soon as humanly possible.
Such announcement seemed to have created some criticism since many people are concerned about the potential reinfection and further spreading of the COVID-19 virus. Many people have shared on social media their disagreement with Greg Abbott’s initiative, and a few have been able to understand the importance of starting to move forward on a plan like this, even with the best precautions and regulations possible.
In the next few paragraphs, I’ll review the threats that Texan society is currently facing, followed by my commentary regarding a list of regulations and options that I personally believe will be conducive to the best outcome for the Lone Star State.
Threats
- Coronavirus is still very present in our country.
Reopening the economy will also mean reopening the state for business travel visitors, consequently increasing the chances of more people being directly effected by the virus. - Our fossil fuel-based economy will collapse.
The effect of this global pandemic to the global economy has been devastating, especially since the crash in oil prices, brought on by a struggle between Russia and Saudi Arabia for dominance in the global crude market. That’s led to a historic oversupply, and a 50% drop in the price of a barrel of oil. In a state so dependent on the supply and demand of fossil fuels, having no movement of the residents, no demand for in-house fuel, no economical flow, no economical growth, we are undoubtedly headed for an eminent recession will lead to the economical collapse of our state if we don’t re-initiate movement in our state. - Overconfident Texan culture and its skepticism towards COVID-19.
Information about the skepticism towards the veracity of COVID-19 has been spinning around social media. Summing up the amount of cases and casualties in our state can potentially make Texans feel overconfident about not being at risk of contracting the virus anymore. However, it can also make Texans lower their guards and potentially raise the number of victims in Texas that we’ve seen thus far.
Trump supporters that don’t believe in the danger of Coronavirus. It’s for this same reason that we need strict regulation to move forward faster on reopening and re-initiating our economy. This can be achieved through proper precautions/regulations in the safest and most effective manner.
At the very least, Governor Abbot should consider the following regulations as he starts litigating to move our state closer to a partial sense of normalcy altogether:
Regulations & Options
Mandatory Sneeze Guards
These Sneeze Guards are a must. Made of acrylic or glass, these guards are supposed to lower the likelihood of getting infected while shopping in super markets/retail stores. This is the type of business environment that shoppers will prefer while selecting their own groceries, even if we move to a delivery and carryout protocol within the majority of other businesses. At the same time, it's important to have hand sanitizer available for workers handling money. These guards intend to keep workers safe from infected clients and vice versa.
Mandatory Social Distancing Floor Stickers (AR enabled)
As simple as it might look, these social distancing floor stickers could by the very thing that keeps us from getting infected. The problem is that this hasn't been regulated as much as it should be, mainly because there can't be a police officer making sure everyone is complying with this regulation. Businesses should comply with using very visible social distance floor stickers, so that clients and visitors clearly understand the appropriate distance to observe in the building.
When we talk about the production of these stickers, we are really talking about a need within the graphic design and printing industry; a prominent industry that's losing tons of business like many other industries. This could be a perfect opportunity for Graphic/Marketers/Augmented Reality designers to create engaging social distancing floor stickers with the capability of placing promotional legends or designs. This idea can be enhanced with AR-enabled (augmented reality-enabled) technology that clients could use through their phones to activate hidden messages that have been coded into the floor sticker, ultimately creating a convenient new experience for customers.
This could translate into moving the flow of the economy to other sectors that could help the service industry - specifically retail stores, restaurants, and small businesses - obtain better engagement with the customer.
We invite you to click on the image to check out an example of this technology currently being used by a company in Houston.
Mandatory Mask Usage
In order to lower the probabilities of contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to more people, we must start taking all procedures and precautions seriously. This means that anyone outside of their home should be forced to wear mask or deal with the consequences. Many people are unable to just sit around at home; some have to go to the store to buy groceries, things for their work, school, and they all will have to visit a store, restaurant or a business sooner or later. In conjunction with the social distance floor stickers, the mandatory mask usage should be enough for us to maintain an environment that's safe from contracting this virus, if we should happen to visit any of these places, therefore allowing us to win the battle against this virus.
COVID-19 Awareness signs with instructions
Many of us have seen those papers placed on a wall outside local stores that have something in reference to Coronavirus, most of the time requesting clients to keep social distance. I believe that this cheap format creates a sense of rebellion that unconsciously lures the general public to disregard this simple command. Businesses should have COVID-19 awareness signs that create an authoritative indication to clients to keep in compliance with such regulations. These signs could also be AR-enabled to provide an engaging experience and create loyal customers, therefore helping the country overall in small, capitalistic ways to circulate funds back into the economy.
Mandatory disinfection of closed areas
This is the most important regulation that could finally lead us to winning the battle against COVID-19.
In my opinion, it's very strange that Greg Abbott did mention regulations similar to the ones I mentioned previously, but he failed to mention the steps needed to aggressively move forward on making that sure we destroy the chances of reinfection in the quickest and most effective manner.
It shouldn't be so hard to agree that we need to move as fast as possible to move ahead the collateral of this pandemic, the potential collapse of our entire economy. In Texas compared to places like NY, everything is so spread out, and the only places where we share a closed area with others outside our homes are mainly offices, work areas, and small restaurants.
If we really want to make sure that businesses are able to reopen, that we re-initiate the economy so people can recover their jobs, and that we can re-establish our economical stability, we must consistently take these measures, including daily disinfection of the following areas: offices, restaurants, schools, park facilities, retail stores, and workout facilities.
This could also spark the creation of new jobs and the enhancement of the cleaning industry.
I would suggest you click on the image to see one of the companies that we know are already working on this initiative in Houston.
