November 10, 2020

As previously mentioned, the Department of Public Health is very concerned about indoor activities and the ability for a customer to spread the virus through mouth droplets (coughing, sneezing, and talking). The way to prevent this type of respiratory spread is by strict adherence to people wearing masks, socially distancing, and other mitigation protocols. The concern about indoor activities is that the air filtration system will pick up these droplets and then re-circulate these droplets to other areas within the facility, thus infecting a broader group of people.

During the call with the Department last week, our lobbyist spoke about how bowling centers have air filtration systems that were designed to remove smoke from where the bowlers are sitting/bowling; thus the removal of this harmful smoke could also apply to COVID-19 and respiratory droplets. However, they did not have any facts/evidence to back up the argument. It would be very helpful to hear that air systems that remove smoke from facilities are also useful for removing respiratory droplets from customers who are indoors. We need your help, this type of data/expert information does not exist, therefore, anything from a report, study, airflow/HVAC expert, etc. would be helpful.

We want to be able to understand what that metric means and then decide if that information is helpful. Unfortunately, the Department does not know yet which air systems are good and which are bad. We need to be able to demonstrate bowling centers have a good air system and with that air system along with mitigation tools, we are safe to reopen under higher tiers (Red and Purple).

What other information can we use?

Although this information may be harder to come by, knowing the types of HVAC systems currently used in each center would be extremely helpful. For example, does your center have a similar system to remove smoke? If not, do these systems re-circulate air within the facility?

Re: Digital Efforts - In one week, we have had 754,000+ impressions on our digital ad. I will continue to update you as we move forward. We have added “ventilation” to the checklist as the number 2 item immediately following item number one: “masks” after the meeting with Health Officials last week.  We wanted to communicate that we heard the message loud and clear. Please see the attached SacBee screenshots of banner ads attached.

This roll-out has been narrowly targeted to State decision-makers in and around the Capitol. The idea is to amplify our message to key officials and lay the groundwork for the meeting the lobbyist team will continue having with State health officials. We want them to see that we understand their priorities are our priorities: Safety, Science, and Health.

We want everyone to be aware of what steps we can take right now. Please make sure that you embed the following link to your center websites, follow and share our social media pages through both your personal and business pages. Tag and forward the following links to anyone that you feel needs to see our message.

www.safebowling.org
https://twitter.com/socalbowling
https://www.facebook.com/socalbowling

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you!
Margot Gallardo
Executive Director – Bowling Centers of Southern California
818.913.7140