As the Giants begin reopening the Quest Diagnostics Training Center, the team has shared photos and a video of the changes that have been made to safely bring employees back to the office under New Jersey coronavirus guidelines.
As of Thursday, the Giants have about 15-20 employees, including team president John Mara and general manager Dave Gettleman, back in the office. But a new memo sent of by the league will allow up to 100 employees, including coaching staffs, to return to their offices starting Friday.
Even with the NFL expanding capacity limitations to 100 people, the Giants will continue to have all employees who can work from home still doing so.
"We have been working diligently over the last couple months to prepare for coming back to the facility, the Quest Diagnostics Training Center," said Ronnie Barnes, senior vice president of medical services and head athletic trainer, on the team's website. "The primary focus has been to return our employees safely. And so everything that we have been doing has been related to the safety of our employees and how we can get back to work as safely as possible.
"We're all happy to be back. We've been waiting for a long time. The Giants' COVID-19 Task Force has been working hard to make this facility as safe as possible. We've made a lot of changes; those are all for [employees'] safety and they're very important. We are following the CDC guidelines, the guidelines from the NFL and guidelines from the National Institute of Health, as well as the state's protocols."
Big Blue also shared a photo gallery and a video of some of the changes that have been made around the facility, including how all employees will be given temperature checks upon arriving. Giants employees will also all enter through one single entrance, and arrows have been painted around the building to keep all foot traffic moving in the same direction. Common spaces such as the team cafeteria and locker room will remain closed at this time.
An inside look at the Giants facility safety updates
- New York Giants (@Giants) June 4, 2020
View photos of changes → https://t.co/LKvDI6PrTc pic.twitter.com/HslYp033jC
SNY's Ralph Vacchiano notes that both the Giants and Jets will wrap their virtual offseason programs at the end of next week and that they have no plans to bring players into their facilities until summer training camp, even if the NFL allows it. The earliest NFL training camps could start is July 29, with the first full squad practice on July 30.
But as New Jersey prepares to enter Stage 2 of reopening on June 15, the Giants are putting protocols in place to make sure their staff, and eventually their players, can return to work safely.
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