The New York Stock Exchange will reopen Tuesday with fewer traders, masks and no visitors to ring the opening bell.
Only a quarter of the usual amount of traders will return to the trading floor after the two-month closure, The Wall Street Journal reports.
And there will be mitigation measures in place to help with social distancing. Traders must avoid taking public transportation to work and wear masks on the floor. There will be Plexiglas barriers to help keep people six feet apart and a ban on visitors and media broadcasts.
Floor traders will have to undergo temperature checks upon entering the building. Blue markings on the sidewalk will help space out people waiting in line to enter. Once inside, there is to be no hand shaking or other physical contact. To ensure traders keep their masks on at all times, there is no eating on the floor. There will be designated places to eat lunch at the cafeteria.
Traders choosing to return must sign a liability waiver that prevents them from suing the NYSE if they get infected at the exchange, the newspaper reports.
The waiver has sparked some controversy between the stock exchange and some Wall Street firms because traders are not NYSE employees. But many traders are ready to return to work.
“I feel confident that the health and safety of the floor community is the NYSE’s No. 1 priority,” Jonathan Corpina, senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners, a floor brokerage, told the newspaper. “I have no doubts about going back to the floor.”
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