Take These Precautions Before Going to a Restaurant
Just because restaurants are reopening doesn’t mean it’s safe to walk . Reopening restaurants during a pandemic is a new situation, and as with all COVID-19, we learn as we go. There are some risk factors and precautions you should take into account before you reserve a table for dinner.
Assess your personal risk
If you are at high risk or live with someone at risk, it is important to take extra care every time you go outside, especially for non-essential travel such as dining at a restaurant where you are likely to be in. constant contact with people who are not in your family for a long period of time. If you are somehow uncomfortable about the risk of eating in a restaurant – for you or for someone in your family – it is perfectly acceptable to say no .
You will also want to consider the area in which you live. If there has been a recent surge in new cases, or if you live in an area with a lot of cases, you need to be extra careful.
It is also important to assess the overall risk – not only for yourself, but also for other people in the restaurant. If you know someone who is sick, or if you work at a job that puts you at increased risk of illness, you may want to avoid eating outside the home to protect those around you.
Consider alternatives
I understand that going to a restaurant gives you the opportunity to eat food you haven’t prepared and spend time with friends in a place that is not your home. Given how tough these past few months have been, it’s no surprise that people want to dine out.
But before making that caveat, it’s worth considering whether you can achieve the same goal with less risk. For example, you can order takeaway from your favorite restaurant and meet friends in the park , where it will be useful for you to be in an environment that is not your home and to eat food that you did not need to cook, but also you will be somewhere with more room to maintain proper physical distance.
If relaxation is the goal, it is worth limiting as many sources of anxiety as possible. You can enjoy it much more if you find a way to enjoy your food without worrying about illness.
Collect information before heading out
Some restaurants have better safety precautions than others. You will want to have an idea of how they handle reopening before placing your order. Visit their website or social media accounts, or just call and ask. If it seems like they haven’t thought it through – or you don’t like their level of precaution – then you should reconsider your choice.
The CDC has released a guide to new restaurant openings – a useful starting point for determining whether your favorite restaurant is up to standards or not. Precautions to be taken in restaurants include additional protection for employees who are at increased risk, additional sanitation and disinfection procedures, providing a safe location that allows diners to practice physical distancing, and ongoing health monitoring of employees, which includes planning for what to do in an event when an employee is sick.
If the restaurant seems crowded, don’t go into it.
If you come to a restaurant and it looks crowded to the point that no one can maintain a physical distance of six feet or more, do not go inside. Are the tables far enough apart? Are the visitors too tightly packed together? Masked people? The staff should be wearing masks at a minimum, and it is also recommended for visitors to wear masks when not eating.
Be very attentive to any surfaces you touch
The more people are in the environment, the more likely people are to touch surfaces such as countertops, glassware, and doorknobs. It’s important to keep an eye on any surfaces you come into contact with and take hand sanitizer with you when you do need to touch high-level surfaces.
Consider al fresco dining
If possible, it is best to dine outdoors. Eating indoors means inhaling the same air as everyone else – and evidence suggests that the virus stays airborne in an enclosed space , even if you sit six feet away – while fresh air circulation is suggested air, which can lower your risk. …
Don’t stay too long
Passing risk is largely a probabilistic game. The longer you are indoors with other people, the higher the chance of infection . Spending an hour in a restaurant will be less risky than spending three hours there. If you are going to eat in a restaurant, this will help limit the time you spend there. If you still don’t want to go home after eating, it’s better to head to the nearest park (provided it’s not too crowded) rather than lingering around the table.
As we discussed earlier, risk is not an all-or-nothing scenario; it exists on a spectrum . Before making any decision, it is important to have an understanding of the relative risks as well as the precautions you need to take to stay safe.