Oxford Valley Mall Reopens With COVID-19 Safety Measures

The Levittown area’s largest shopping facility has reopened for the first time since mid-March.

The Oxford Valley Mall in Middletown Township reopened to the public last Friday as Bucks County moved to the least restrictive level of the state’s COVID-19 mitigation plan.

On Monday, the majority of the mall’s stores were open with social distancing and masking policies in place. Some stores had employees at the entrance way and others had stations to take visitor contact information for potential contract tracing purposes.

In the food court, tables were spaced to provide room for social distancing.

A spokesperson for the mall said the facility has completed a “comprehensive” COVID-19 Exposure Control Policy that was created with assistance from public health officials and epidemiology experts.

All tenants at the mall have received information on “enhanced safety protocols” and are ” are expected to adhere to the same rigorous policies in their tenant spaces,” a statement from the mall said. 

During a Monday afternoon stroll, nearly all visitors and staff that were visible in the common spaces had on masks and appeared to be practicing social distancing.

“The health, safety and well-being of the community we serve will always be our highest priority, and we have developed a thorough and detailed set of protocols highlighting the exceptional measures we’ve implemented for shoppers, retailers and employees as we reopen,” said Gwen Karpf, general manager at Oxford Valley Mall. “We also recognize that individuals and families in our community are suffering significant hardship as a result of both COVID-19 and the economic shutdown, and we believe that reopening our property will not only help people get back to work during these challenging times, but also enable us to use our property to further support charitable initiatives.”

 The mall has implemented the following measures:

• Enhanced sanitization and disinfecting using the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) approved products with an emphasis on high-traffic locations such as dining areas, restrooms, escalators, stairs, directories, trash bins and door knobs.
• Shopper safeguards that include making available protective masks, sanitizing wipes and temperature testing at entrances or property offices, as well as the encouragement of pre-visit health screenings to ensure shoppers stay home if they have exhibited COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms within 72 hours.
• Hand sanitizing stations will be deployed throughout the property.
• Signage promoting CDC guidelines for maintaining personal hygiene will be prominently displayed throughout the property.
• Pre-emptive employee health screening to ensure that employees do not arrive at work within 72 hours of exhibiting COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms.
• Employee safety protections including implementing the CDC’s COVID-19 frequent hand-washing protocols, and offering personal protective equipment in addition to other CDC recommended practices.
• Promotion and enforcement of social distancing practices, including occupancy limitations, furniture and restroom spacing, closure of play areas and strollers, as well as coordinated traffic flow with traffic signage and distance markers.

 The statement from the mall noted that its reopening was important for the local economy. The shopping area supports 2,400 jobs and contributed $7.3 million of sales tax and $2.1 million in property tax revenue.

“Our property is an integral part of our community not only in terms of shopping, dining and entertainment, but also job creation, small business growth and community support. We look forward to once again serving the needs of our community, and doing so in a safe and responsible manner,” said Karpf.

Report a correction via email | Editorial standards and policies