Adults with confirmed COVID-19 are twice as likely to have dined out at a restaurant in the 14 days before becoming sick, according to the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report issued Thursday.
Dr. Marybeth Sexton, assistant professor of infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine, said the study sample size is fairly small and was taken from states that were in different stages of community transmission and phased reopening. She also said it may have been important to know if these restaurants were complying with local COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions, or not.“I think this is a very important finding and it’s not the first time we’ve seen this reported,” she said.
Eating is one of the higher risk activities depending on how it’s done because people have to take off their mask when they eat, said Paul Biddinger, director of the Emergency Preparedness Research, Evaluation and Practice program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. When diners choose to go out, he said, they must be mindful of the multiple risks associated with that especially when sharing a table with a person outside of their household.
“I absolutely understand why people are eager to get together with friends and we certainly want to be able to support the restaurant community. I think people have to be exceptionally cautious in their dining choices," he said. "I don’t think (the report] automatically says that all dining events are risky."Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare.
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