Doctor warns about restaurant setups that 'are questionably outdoors'
Most restaurants were forced to balance public health and business amid the coronavirus pandemic, and there are clear tensions across the U.S. as restrictions increase as transmission surges.
Outdoor dining has become a popular option for restaurants, as it offers patrons better ventilation and more opportunities to stay more than six feet apart. But with the winter approaching, some outdoor dining experiences look conspicuously indoor.
“We know that outdoor spread is about 1/20th as risky as indoor spread,” Dr. Steven McDonald, an emergency medicine physician based out of New York City, said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above) “You would think outdoor dining should be a relatively safe activity. That said, when you actually look at what constitutes outdoor dining in New York City, a lot of these restaurants have put up structures that are questionably outdoors any longer.”
To protect against rainy or cold weather, many places set up tents to hold their tables inside. These restaurants are supposed to keep at least one side open to ensure that air is circulating properly.
“They’re supposed to be open on at least one side,” McDonald said. “I think two is best for ventilation. And now we’re seeing many that are actually completely enclosed structures. So that does raise a question of what actually is outdoor dining any longer and how much is this contributing to spread.”
Restaurants have become reliant on these accommodations as a means of keeping their businesses open and workers employed. The restaurant industry is poised to lose $240 billion by the end of 2020, according to the National Restaurant Association.
‘You really don't have any choice’
Whether or not walled-in outdoor dining has contributed to the recent surge in coronavirus cases remains a point of debate among public health experts.