NOTE: This article was originally published March 13th, 2020, last updated July 14th, 2020.
While we want to make sure this advice is current, it is not definitive. We want to recognize the limitations of advice during a pandemic where information is updated by experts daily and strongly urge you to check resources like the CDC and WHO for the most up-to-date information about safety procedures and best practices.
We’ve compiled some critical information and tips for float centers to keep in mind during the Coronavirus outbreak:
Float Tanks
- Coronavirus is not water-borne. Standard filtration and disinfection in your float solution should be sufficient.
- Coronavirus seems to be primarily spread through droplets in the air. Infected people who present symptoms can spread these through coughing and sneezing, but asymptomatic people can spread the virus great distances just through talking. It’s not currently known how long the virus stays in the air, but enclosed and poorly ventilated spaces have an increased risk of transmission. Employees should wait at least 20 minutes before entering float rooms vacated by customers.
- Surfaces don’t seem to be the primary mode of transmission, but are still a risk factor. Increase disinfection of the interior and exterior of the tank, especially where customers are likely to touch.
Hard Surface Disinfection
- (Re)Familiarize yourself with hard surface disinfection and kill times.
- Use EPA recommended and registered disinfectants on all hard surfaces.
- Stress to your staff the importance of properly disinfecting all items and surfaces that floaters are likely to touch, both in the rooms and out.
- Frequently disinfect chairs, doorknobs, check-in counters, and all solid surfaces where someone might place their hand.
- Consider storing objects that floaters typically touch that aren’t easy to disinfect (float journals, books, toys, etc.).Staff and Customers
Staff and Customers
- All staff should wear masks at all times. All customers should wear masks anytime they’re not alone in the float room. Even cloth masks can help reduce the spread of transmission significantly.
- Brief your staff on what we know, and make sure they feel comfortable answering any customer questions.
- Make sure your staff is washing their hands diligently and not touching their faces.
- Have everyone maintain at least a 6-foot distance from others.
- Make sure staff take sick leave and stay home if they think they’re feeling ill.
- Let customers know that they won’t be charged for canceling floats, even last minute, if they’re not feeling well. Take steps to prevent customers who have symptoms, especially a cough or fever, into your center.
- Put a page on your website informing your customers of your increased cleaning and health policies, and link to it from your scheduling page and emails.
With all of this said, we aren’t microbiologists and information about the pandemic is changing daily. So, back in March we reached out to Dr. Roy Vore for comment.
If you’re not familiar with him, Dr. Vore is a microbiologist and expert on water sanitation; he’s one of the leading experts on outbreaks in shared water facilities (pools, hot tubs, etc), and fortunately for our industry, he’s taken a particular interest in float tanks.
Dr. Vore has had been discussing this issue with pools and spas, so making a statement for float centers wasn’t too far out of his way.
The first thing we learned from talking to Dr. Vore was that the actual name for this virus is SARS-CoV-2. It’s similar to the flu both in how it spreads and what it’s susceptible to. This is what he had to say (see if you can avoid hearing it in his voice):
“This is an enveloped virus. The concentration of salt used will provide a reasonable inactivation, but is not likely to be complete. But this virus is both spread by contact and inhalation of airborne droplets; it is not water-borne. As such, the water is not the medium of transmission.”
It’s been known for years that high concentrations of magnesium sulfate in a water solution can actually stop some viruses and bacteria from spreading that would otherwise thrive in water. As we know, this isn’t sufficient disinfectant for all pathogens, but it does impact our risk factors. Dr. Vore actually did a big talk about this at the 2018 Float Conference.
The nature of our business also means we just don’t have large groups of people interacting with each other. This doesn’t mean we’re off the hook, though.
This virus has a long incubation period, which means that it can last longer on surfaces. So the real danger of this epidemic for a float center is all the stuff that your customers interact with. As Dr. Vore puts it:
“All float centers should focus on disinfection of hard surfaces including chairs, doorknobs, check-in counters, and all solid surfaces where someone might place their hand.”
Back at the beginning of March, Art of the Float recently released an interview with Jason MacDonald, a health regulator in Alberta, Canada. It’s a good listen, although obviously our understanding of the pandemic has shifted and grown since then.
At the very least, hopefully the fact that we’re not a high-risk industry can be something float centers can take some comfort in and emphasize to the public. Be patient, be mindful, and adjust your plans to the environment as new information comes out and the situation develops. And don’t forget to take tank time for yourself to float away some stress.
2016 Float Conference Program Introduction
It’s been my pleasure to write the introduction to the conference program for five years in a row, and each year I enjoy posting it up on this blog for everyone who didn’t make it out. I hope to see you all in 2017! – Graham
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #16
We finally took this trip international! Explaining Float Tour to the border guards was a little bit of a challenge (especially through the language barrier), but – after some creative hand gestures and finding synonyms for “sensory” and “deprivation” – we made it through.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #15
New York is where it’s at, and it’s arguably the busiest place on the planet. People here live fast-paced lives and rarely – if ever – have time to slow the fuck down and enjoy themselves.
Just like Jersey, people here also see skepticism as a point of pride, and take it to an even greater extreme. All of this makes New York a sort of “proving grounds” for floating: if it can make it in New York, it can make it anywhere.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #14
The Garden State houses probably the highest concentration of float tanks on the East Coast. Jersey is a gateway to the major metropolitan areas nearby: New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.
This convenience has made Jersey the suburban hub for every major industry on the East Coast for generations, giving it the highest population density of any state in the U.S. This is fantastic for the float industry; if there’s one statistic that correlates with successful float centers, it’s population density.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #13
Passing through Virginia and Maryland, we thought that if all serving politicians, lobbyists, Supreme Court justices, and the President of the United States of America floated on a regular basis, it’d be easy to imagine that the world would be a better place.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #12
In this issue of The Float Tour Blog, we visit centers across 3 states and catch up with a few long time friends and a familiar voice to a lot of float center owners.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #11
This issue of The Float Tour Blog focuses on our exploration into floating in the Deep South. Graham, Ashkahn, and JT tours centers in Louisiana and Georgia while also visiting the largest cryotherapy manufacturer in the USA.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #10
Floating has definitely found a home here in the big cities: Dallas, Austin, and Houston.
Texas has several centers that started as holdouts of floating from before 2010, but new centers are popping up on a regular basis.
Fancy Acronyms for your Business Plan: TAM, SAM, and SOM
In this post, we’ll be looking at those enigmatic acronyms: TAM, SAM, and SOM, which are the backbone for the market analysis section of your written plan. We’ve helped a couple hundred float centers to develop their business plans, and we’ve found that this one area generates the most questions, and seems to generally be the most difficult to wrap your head around.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #9
The Float Tour makes a stop in Tulsa, OK to visit Dr. Justin Feinstein’s Float Clinic and Research Center at the Laureate Institute of Brain Research (LIBR).
Rather than following the usual path of incremental progress with its research, LIBR is tasked with pursuing alternative treatments that have a chance of “shooting the moon” and making potentially large leaps in medical progress. Float tanks are just the kind of technology they’re looking to explore.
