Page 29 - Delaware Lawyer - Fall 2020

even on public benches. Hand sanitizer has also been made widely available at public hand sanitizer stations in hall- ways and high-traffic areas and through hand sanitizer dispensers on desks and tables.
And there are also changes in the courtrooms, the heart of any court- house. Social distancing markers have been installed on the benches or chairs in the public gallery along with clear plastic shielding on judges’ benches, on the areas where court clerks and staff sit, and on the witness box. In many courtrooms, plastic barriers have also been installed on counsel tables to allow attorneys to sit safely next to their clients. In courtrooms where jury trials take place, plastic barriers have been installed in the jury boxes or jurors are spaced out in the jury box, in
the well of the court, and if needed, in marked-off areas of the public gallery.
Both in courtrooms and public ar- eas of the courthouses, the courts have also stepped up cleaning and disin- fecting procedures. Cleaning staff are particularly focused on high-contact surfaces, frequently cleaning railings, door handles and elevator buttons. The courts have also obtained several indus- trial “fogging” devices to completely disinfect courtrooms or other public spaces if the court becomes aware that someone infected with COVID-19 has been in a courtroom or other area of the courthouse.
Finally, as was mentioned earlier, the courts adopted a four-phase reopening plan in May that is currently in Phase 3 of 4, as of the writing of this article. The courts continue to work with our
counterparts in state government and our infectious disease expert to close- ly monitor the pandemic. Should the situation take a significant turn for the worse, the courts are prepared to im- pose additional measures or revert to an earlier phase in the reopening process. Should all go well and the courts move to Phase 4, the final step in the reopen- ing plan, there will be a return to full operations. We do not, however, expect that everything will return to the way it was before the pandemic. We expect there will be a new normal, where some of the changes we have made in the past several months will become permanent, such as the continued use of video- conferencing technology for some proceedings, a change that has proven easier and more efficient for all in- volved, saving both time and money.
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