Business, medical groups join forces to promote good health in business

(The Center Square) – Arizona’s business and health care communities have teamed up to promote safety measures that will protect Arizonans and help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Be Safe, Be Open AZ is a collaboration between the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Arizona Medical Association and has the goal of spreading the united message that the state’s economy can reopen and function safely and responsibly with efforts on everyone’s part.

“Employers and health care providers agree that the threat posed by COVID can be severely diminished if Arizonans take some simple preventative measures,” Garrick Taylor, senior vice president of government relations and communications at Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told The Center Square.

Anyone can benefit from the measures outlined in Be Safe, Be Open AZ, but there is a particular emphasis on the business community.

“Businesses are important to curbing the spread of the coronavirus,” Taylor said. “By modeling good behavior – mask wearing, social distancing and the like – businesses will send a message to the public that not only are they committed to stopping the spread of the virus, but that they care about the health of their employees and customers.”

Dr. Ross Goldberg, president of the Arizona Medical Association, told Chamber Business News that health care providers are eager to partner with businesses who set an example of responsibility through enforcing mask wearing, social distancing and other simple preventative actions.

“If businesses heed the recommendations of the health care community, then Arizona’s economy can open more fully, kids and teachers can return to school, and some semblance of normalcy can begin to take hold,” Taylor said. “The sooner we all work together in the name of good health, the safer we are and the sooner we return to normal.”

Businesses can get involved in the campaign by visiting BeSafeBeOpenAZ.com, downloading and printing one of the provided signs and posting it in the business, and following safety guidance by requiring face coverings to be worn inside the business.