Supporting local is more important than ever before as the Coronavirus pandemic continues with no immediate end in sight. But how do you know if your favorite local business is doing everything they can to keep their customers safe? Yelp is stepping up to let us know which local businesses are practicing good Covid-19 safety.

In mid-2020, Yelp gave businesses the opportunity to update their listings to reflect their updated services - carry-out, dine-in, etc as well the specific health and safety precautions that were being taken within the establishment. They also allowed consumers the opportunity to provide feedback regarding those health and safety practices - gloves, sanitizing, mask wearing, etc... Earlier this week, Yelp took that information and is now displaying if businesses are or are not practicing those safety measures. In the press release, Yelp explains that the new feedback is gathered in a similar fashion to how a business might be marked as "kid friendly" or "great for groups." The information will be included on the business's page under "Health and Safety Measures." They say that "socially distancing enforced" and "staff wears masks" are the only items currently available to be displayed based on user feedback since those are the most easily to observe by the patrons. According to the press release,

a green check mark will be displayed with text that indicates, “Social distancing enforced according to most users” or “Staff wears masks according to most users” when the majority of responses from users indicate that these measures are being enforced. However, if a majority of user responses indicate that these measures are not enforced, an orange question mark will be displayed with text that reads, “Social distancing might not be enforced according to most users” or, “Staff might not wear masks according to most users.” In instances where user responses are mixed, but there’s still significant feedback from users that these measures are not enforced, an orange question mark will be displayed with text that indicates, “Social distancing might not be enforced according to some users” or “Staff might not wear masks according to some users.

The user generated feedback will be available on businesses centered around the service industry - restaurants, food, nightlife along with beauty businesses, retail establishments,  automotive businesses and more.

Not only can consumers offer feedback about health and safety precautions implemented in local businesses, but the businesses themselves are also able to indicate the services that they offer, as well as the safety protocols that they have in place like,

  • Staff checked for symptoms (available to all businesses)
  • Disposable or contactless menu (available to restaurants, bars, and nightlife)
  • Heated outdoor seating (available to restaurants, bars, and nightlife)
  • Covered outdoor seating (available to restaurants, bars, and nightlife)
  • Indoor dining (available to restaurants, bars, and nightlife)
  • Private dining (available to restaurants)
  • DIY meal kits (available to restaurants)
  • Outdoor services (available to fitness and beauty businesses)
  • 1:1 sessions available (available to fitness businesses)
  • Limited group sessions available (available to fitness businesses)

Businesses can update that information by logging into their Yelp for Business account. Learn more at Yelp.com.

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