How Bluetooth Technology Is
Helping Us Reopen Safely
in a COVID-19 World

After months of lockdown, and some US states opening and then reclosing due to increasing COVID-19 case numbers, many questions remain about how we can move forward safely. We are all anxious to return to business as usual, but until vaccines are widely distributed, sanitization, social distancing, and strategies to manage the pandemic are likely to be with us for the foreseeable future.

We’ve faced business interruption and school closures since March. Regularly scheduled programming – sports, concerts, visits to museums – have been traded in for infrequent trips to the grocery store and, if you’re lucky, an evening in a friend’s back yard sitting six feet apart and wearing a mask.

The health of everyone in our society should remain the primary rationale for making reopening decisions. However, the economic impact of closures to or restrictions on businesses and schools is also a driving force behind the need for safe reopening solutions.

According to a new Pew Research Center survey, overall, one-in-four adults have had trouble paying their bills since the coronavirus outbreak started. The restaurant industry in the US alone saw an estimated 8 million jobs lost in the first few months of the pandemic, and, around the world, people are more negative about the economy amid COVID-19 than during Great Recession.

Everyone is looking for a middle ground to get the economy moving and keep everyone safe. Companies across the world are turning to Bluetooth^® technology in the hopes of doing just that – adapting existing infrastructures to offer new solutions that will help us return to the activities we know and love while continuing to take COVID-19 precautions seriously.

Why Bluetooth?

The COVID-19 pandemic is transforming the way we work, gather, and live. Facilities rely on patrons and staff to comply with COVID-19 safety measures like mask-wearing and regular handwashing. Still, they must do their part to help minimize the spread and enable safe reopening. And technology can be a cost-effective measure in doing so. The ubiquity and flexibility of Bluetooth^® technology – in our phones and devices – combined with the existing infrastructure in many public spaces means Bluetooth technology is particularly effective in helping us balance the scale between safety and normalcy.

Developers, solution providers, facilities managers, property owners, and even government agencies are turning to Bluetooth technology to implement innovative solutions that help manage the spread, accelerate reopening efforts across the globe, and enable safer treatment of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and future disease outbreaks.

Let’s look at the three primary ways Bluetooth technology is being used to support reopening efforts and help curb the spread in a post-COVID-19 world.

Safe Return Solutions

Offices, factories, schools, stadiums, and other large venues around the world are looking to Bluetooth^® technology to power safe return solutions to help them take every reasonable precaution to reopen or continue to operate safely in this new reality. Employers are investing in health response infrastructures that are keeping employees and visitors safe and ensuring business continuity in the short term, while also enabling additional smart building applications over time that generate efficiencies and ROI in the post-COVID-19 world.

Hygiene Management

Maintaining good hygiene management is key to warding off the virus. For staff who come into contact with many people and touch a lot of surfaces, practicing ongoing hand sanitation is a must to minimize infection. While employers can place hand sanitizer in convenient locations in the hopes that staff will use them, they cannot guarantee that their employees will take the necessary precautions.

Facilities are leveraging Bluetooth^® technology to meet increased building sanitization requirements and enforce hygiene compliance to minimize the risk of transmission. Use-based sanitization solutions help ensure that shared resources, such as tools and hot desks, and common areas, such as kitchens and conference rooms, are disinfected in a more timely and efficient manner, keeping occupants healthy while also helping facilities prioritize cleaning resources and manage the cost of complying with new levels of cleanliness. Bluetooth enabled hand sanitizing stations located in shared office spaces can help monitor and encourage staff usage each time they enter or exit the room.

Occupancy Management

A year ago, staying six feet apart at a sports stadium, concert hall, or even a commercial office would have been impossible. People sit or stand shoulder to shoulder and they gather in hallways and entryways as crowds attempt to come and go at the same time. But, as we adjust our behavior and as businesses develop strategies for the future, Bluetooth^® technology can help enforce social distancing and manage occupancy density.

Commercial buildings are rapidly adopting a variety of Bluetooth enabled occupancy management solutions designed to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. This technology can help building managers more closely monitor and control the number of occupants at any given time in any given area and help building occupants adhere to social distancing requirements for indoor environments.

Bluetooth enabled proximity warnings remind employees and visitors to maintain safe distances to reduce the risk of viral transmission. Bluetooth wayfinding applications and visitor-flow monitoring solutions can help guide workers and visitors through buildings by the safest routes. Plus, understanding movement patterns can help building managers identify potential high-risk areas and avoid congestion before it happens.