Indoor dining is about to return in New York City. Infectious-disease specialists say it’s not perfect, but it’s time. KTHeaney reports
Photo: Getty Images/Tetra images RF In most of the country, indoor dining — at limited capacity, with restrictions — has resumed. With each state’s or city’s announcement, the public reaction is varied: While many people feel it’s time, or well beyond it, others see restaurant reopenings as a clear harbinger of doom.
Outdoor dining is unanimously considered safer for diners thanks to natural air ventilation, though that benefit isn’t necessarily shared equally by a restaurant’s patrons, who remain outdoors, and its workers, who may still need to share cramped indoor space. Moving everyone indoors adds risk, but how much? Most places in the United States require restaurant workers to wear masks, but many diners aren’t required to wear masks while seated.
Dr. Manisha Juthani, an associate professor and specialist in infectious diseases at Yale School of Medicine, agrees that New York’s move toward indoor dining is the right one. “It’s reasonable to try limited-capacity indoor dining,” she says. “In Connecticut, we have had 50 percent–capacity indoor dining for some time, and it seems to be working for now.” If cases climb as a result of reopening, says Juthani-Mehta, the decision may need to be reversed.
For this reason, and because transmission in New York remains so low, Lighter doesn’t consider indoor dining a major risk to restaurant workers’ health — even if patrons are maskless while seated. The CDC defines “close contact” as being within six feet of another person for more than 15 minutes; most interactions between customers and servers will be much shorter than that.
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