Shopping centers should step up in their communities and act as leaders, the speakers said, by providing frequent updates on issues around the pandemic that are important to their constituents, be that cleaning, safety procedures and enhancements, or supply-chain issues.

Stephanie Cegielski, ICSC’s vice president of public relations, moderated the discussion with these experts, who are from the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, the LSU National Center for Biomedical Research and Training/Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education, as well as from public-relations firm MWWPR.

“Your stakeholders want to hear from you,” said Richard Tauberman, MWWPR’s executive vice president of corporate communications. “Be prepared for inquiries from media and stakeholders. Media and the public will be grading how companies communicate.”

Shopping centers need not institute any new cleaning procedures other than to pay special attention to high-traffic areas, said Christopher Kotecki, an instructor at the LSU NCBRT/ACE. The experts recommended providing customers and the public with tissues, no-touch trash receptacles, hand soap, and hand sanitizer that is at least 60 percent alcohol.

The webinar is available here (Chrome works best).

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