The New York Stock Exchange is set to reopen its iconic trading floor after a 2-month shutdown for the first time in 228 years

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• The New York Stock Exchange is set to return to its iconic trading floor on Tuesday after shutting down for two months over safety concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic.
• Traders who return to the floor will be subject to new regulations such as submitting to temperature checks, wearing face masks, and eating only at the cafeteria to avoid removing their masks.
• According to the Wall Street Journal, traders will be required to sign a liability waiver that restricts them from suing the NYSE for any potential cases of contracting the coronavirus while working.
• NYSE had first physically opened its trading floor on April 22, 1903.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

After a two-month precautionary closure, the New York Stock Exchange is ready to reopen its renowned trading floor on Tuesday.

The exchange operated without its trading floor for the first time in its 228-year history from March 23 as the coronavirus pandemic overwhelmed New York City, making it an epicenter for the virus.

The NYSE has shut down operations before, but the trading floor has always operated when the exchange has been open, until this year.

Since closing down two months ago, the exchange had been limited to all-electronic trading, according to NYSE President Stacey Cunningham’s op-ed on the Wall Street Journal. 

Compared to the iconic images of traders seen on the NYSE trading floor, the exchange will now look and feel different as only one-quarter of the workforce returns to their jobs, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

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Under the new measures, those who return will be required to wear face masks, steer clear of public transportation, follow stringent social-distancing, conform to temperature checks, and avoid physical contact. 

Other measures include a ban on bringing visitors to the floor and meals will only allowed at designated spots in the NYSE’s cafeteria.

Traders will also be subject to signing a liability waiver that prohibits them from suing the exchange in case of contracting the virus.

According to a copy of the waiver seen by the Journal, traders must acknowledge that returning to work could result in “contracting Covid-19, respiratory failure, death, and transmitting Covid-19 to family or household members and others who may also suffer these effects.”

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