As the nation continues to face the novel coronavirus pandemic with little significant guidance from the Trump administration, many people are struggling to determine the best possible protections for themselves. While wearing a mask, washing your hands, and staying home are among the common precautions, state and local ordinances can send mixed messages on what’s actually safe.
One example? Restaurants, bars, and cafes reopening. And according to a new study from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults who tested positive for the virus were approximately twice as likely to have dined at a restaurant within two weeks before they became ill with virus symptoms. Before we delve into what this finding suggests, let’s go over the basics of the study below.
First of all, the sample size of the study is fairly small. The study includes 314 adults in the United States who were tested for the virus after displaying symptoms. Of that number 154 of the people tested positive (those who tested negative functioned as a control group). The testing happened at one of 11 outpatient healthcare facilities across 10 states including California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington state. The tests occurred in July.
One important note is respondents were not asked to distinguish between dining at restaurants with indoor or outdoor seating. It’s also a bit blurry because it’s possible people who are eating at restaurants or going for drinks during a pandemic may be out and about more in the community in general.
Additionally, 42% of people who tested positive had been in close contact with someone who had COVID-19, compared to less than 15% of the control group. Interestingly, out of the close contacts, just over half (51%) were family members. And 74% of the control group said they always wore face coverings in public, while a close but still lower 71% of those who tested positive said the same.
What makes the study particularly interesting is that people in both the positive and control group reported having in-home gatherings, going to salons, attending church, and going to the gym at about the same rate. But the positive cases were roughly twice as likely to say they went out to restaurants before feeling ill. Relatedly, adults who tested positive for the virus but reported not knowing where they had been exposed to it were more likely to have gone to a coffee shop or bar. Which makes people wonder: What’s the common thread here?
The study isn’t large enough to be entirely conclusive, but masks are an obvious possible factor. After all, people may be required to wear masks to enter an establishment, but eventually, those masks come off to eat and drink. There’s also a wide range in guidelines in terms of whether seating is outside or inside, how many total people can be in an establishment, how far apart the tables need to be, if people are being discouraged to travel and patronize these places or not, and so on. If the music is loud and people are shouting to hear one another, that might be a factor. And as the researchers pointed out: air circulation.
“Direction, ventilation, and intensity of airflow might affect virus transmission, even if social distancing measures and mask use are implemented according to current guidance," the researchers wrote.
The CDC has guidelines on going out to restaurants. The guidelines rank risk-level activities from lowest risk (getting takeout or using a drive-through) to highest (on-site dining with both indoor and outdoor seating).
All of this of course comes down to a tricky question for most of us. Should we be patronizing restaurants or not? What about supporting local businesses? That’s a tough question to answer, as everyone’s individual needs and considerations are different. But what we do know is that while restaurants—and especially small businesses—are struggling to survive, that doesn’t have to be the case. As my colleague Joan McCarter reported, the Restaurant Act would provide $120 billion in grants to independent restaurants and bars and has the support of more than 180 Democrats and 5 Republicans. The companion bill in the Senate is actually sponsored by a Republican. If Mitch McConnell would just let it happen, it’s possible small businesses could get the real support they need instead of closing amid the pandemic. After all, Yelp data suggests more than 16,000 restaurants have already closed permanently because of the pandemic. Black-owned restaurants and bars in particular have struggled.
There’s also the very real workers’ rights issue to consider, and the risks workers take when returning to work customer-facing jobs, like waiting tables or serving food.