The South Africa government has declared a national state of disaster and announced a range of extraordinary measures designed to minimize the spread of the Coronavirus COVID-19.
At Spier we are closely monitoring government and industry guidelines regarding the Coronavirus outbreak and are following these accordingly.
We recognise that we are facing a very serious situation worldwide and increasingly for South Africa. This is the time for considered calm caution to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our guests and staff.
We are taking extensive measures to ensure our staff and guests are safe. These include implementing mandatory social distancing, reducing social interaction at our cellar and offices, and following the recommended hygiene protocols to ensure regular and thorough disinfection of our workplace.
There is no denying the huge challenges that the hospitality and wine industries are facing collectively. We are determined to put our guests and staff at the forefront of everything we do and remain operating in those areas where we are able to do so.
We have implemented extensive protective measures across our farm. These are based on up-to-date expert advice and local and international public health guidelines.
We have put a 24 hour screening and quarantine facility in place, on-site, for the use of both our staff and guests, with a full time medical advisory team, and are kept well informed about the unfolding risks and realities of the Covid-19 outbreak and potential impacts.
We have taken additional measures developed in consultation with global and local public health authorities (including the WHO and CDC) to make our cleaning and hygiene protocols even more rigorous:
- We are strictly following the social distancing guidelines at our hotel, conference centre, restaurants and wine tasting centre:
- Tables at all of our restaurants have been spaced at least 1.5m apart and guests are encouraged to sit outside
- All events with more than 100 guests have been postponed
- Reservations are limited at our restaurants to ensure that there are never more than 100 people (guests and staff) in a venue at a time
- Our hotel is running at a third of its capacity to avoid crowds
- Staff are being encouraged to avoid meeting in-person and those that are able are working from home.
- Shifts are being rostered to minimise the number of employees on site at any one time.
- Where possible, staff meet suppliers and other third parties online or telephonically.
- We have conducted additional training with our staff to ensure they understand the hygiene techniques relevant to decreasing the risk of exposure to this virus.
- We follow a strict and detailed hygiene regimen to ensure ALL surfaces at Spier are disinfected on a regular basis.
- We have increased the frequency of the cleaning of our public areas (including lobby, door handles, public bathrooms, etc.), using disinfectant.
- We have increased the deployment of hand sanitizers across all areas.
To date we have had no cases of Covid-19, in either staff or guests. We have an incident reporting system in place and all management teams are maintaining vigilance.
We are very fortunate that all of the outlets at Spier, including our hotel, conference centre, restaurants and wine tasting centre and picnic facilities are spread widely across the farm in surroundings that offer outdoor options and minimise close engagement and risk.
Finally, we recognise that this is an ever-changing situation. With this in mind, our measures will adapt accordingly and will continue to keep our guests updated.
Published 18 March 2020.