Reopening McCormick Place

There will be increased cleaning of common areas and restrooms. The plans call for high touch areas such as doors, escalator rails, elevator buttons and elevator interiors to be cleaned regularly and, depending upon the number of guests present in the facility, more frequently than under pre-COVID-19 conditions.

All cleaning and disinfecting will be performed according to CDC guidelines with materials approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency for use in public areas. This includes technology such as ozone or hydroxyl generators, electrostatic mist cleaning, and foggers.

As global brands, the two campus hotels are both operating according to standards established by Marriott International and the Hyatt Corporation. These operating standards have been examined by MPEA to ensure a consistently safe experience on campus. Each hotel has changed its operating procedures and policies to address the following items during your stay. Please visit the Marriott and Hyatt websites for up to date information on their ongoing efforts to ensure safety.

Check-in and check-out procedures

There is an updated check-in and check-out procedures at each hotel to minimize unnecessary contact, such as touchless payment and installation of clear panels at the front desks. New procedures may also impact late check out options to ensure appropriate time for cleaning between guests.

Hotel fitness centers

The hotel fitness centers have new cleaning and disinfecting procedures. The equipment has been moved to allow for spacing and there are changes in policy to control occupancy.

Other hotel safety efforts

Each hotel has invested in new equipment, such as air purifiers and UV lighting, as well as ensuring that all employees have undergone training.

To have a healthy campus, we must have healthy employees. To help ensure the health and safety of our guests, we have established new positions. The new positions include designated health/safety managers and food safety managers. Everyone will undergo additional training and be certified in these areas. The plan will also mandate minimum numbers of positions per shift.

As all employees return to work, they will receive training in:

• Recognition of and reaction to individuals with or complaining of COVID-19 symptoms
• Reporting any COVID-19 symptoms or possible exposure to the virus and direction regarding staying at home or reporting to work
• Social distancing and personal hygiene
• Proper use and disposal of personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Identifying high traffic and high touch areas that may require management to minimize congregating, and more frequent cleaning and sanitizing.