Lifting of Coronavirus restrictions on restaurants

Super S
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Re: Lifting of Coronavirus restrictions on restaurants

Post by Super S »

Here in Washington indoor dining is closed again. While I haven't been by Applebee's to see if their tent has returned, I have seen a few restaurants putting up tarps, tents etc. and using heaters to provide limited outdoor dining areas.

I get the point of this, but I am not going to pay restaurant prices to basically eat inside a tent during a cold, rainy, sometimes windy season (when it's even more likely people will be sick). I will get food to go during the times I don't feel like cooking.
Alpha8472
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Re: Lifting of Coronavirus restrictions on restaurants

Post by Alpha8472 »

I ate at a restaurant with outdoor dining on Friday, and the tent was still very cold even with heaters. It must have been 50 degrees. Any colder and I would have gotten take out. The restaurant was still busy, but not as busy as before the pandemic. The outdoor heaters do very little unless you are right next to them.
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Re: Lifting of Coronavirus restrictions on restaurants

Post by reymann »

restaurants in california could be back to takeout/delivery only if the rise in cases doesn't stop soon.
Alpha8472
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Re: Lifting of Coronavirus restrictions on restaurants

Post by Alpha8472 »

Los Angeles County just announced that starting Wednesday at 10 PM restaurants, wineries, breweries, and bars will be prohibited from offering outdoor dining. Indoor dining was already banned. Takeout, drive-thru, delivery, or pickup are available.

The theory is that any situation where people are without masks is spreading the virus. I can see the logic to that, but these restaurants need to be able to survive somehow. Outdoor dining can be safer, but will banning all dining of any kind really make that much of a difference? This will be the test. If it does not do anything, then they can contemplate switching back to outdoor dining.

The curfew also is in effect from 10 PM to 5 AM. The main target of the curfew is bars or restaurants where people are unmasked and mingle with strangers less than 6 feet apart. Even if you are 6 feet apart, there is still quite a bit of risk whenever you do not have masks on.

I say test all these options out, and if they are proven to be ineffective, then everyone will know. Then you go back and change everything.

Will the curfew even be enforced? Many police agencies have refused to enforce the curfew. It is up to restaurants and stores to adhere to the curfew. The curfew does not apply to supermarket or pharmacy shopping, getting takeout food, medical care, or emergency needs in California.
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Re: Lifting of Coronavirus restrictions on restaurants

Post by Super S »

Over the last few days, several restaurants here in Washington (all independents) have reopened indoor dining in defiance of state orders. They are trying to make a point that they are on the brink of having to close for good if this drags on too much longer. I will say that one of these restaurants (which I drive by every day) was absolutely packed yesterday with a full parking lot. I personally won't be going to eat at any of them...the potential is there for confrontations as locally there are mixed opinions about this, and it is a regular occurrence to see people arguing with employees about mask mandates where I live.
Last edited by Super S on December 7th, 2020, 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Lifting of Coronavirus restrictions on restaurants

Post by klkla »

Alpha8472 wrote: November 22nd, 2020, 10:15 pm Los Angeles County just announced that starting Wednesday at 10 PM restaurants, wineries, breweries, and bars will be prohibited from offering outdoor dining. Indoor dining was already banned. Takeout, drive-thru, delivery, or pickup are available.

The theory is that any situation where people are without masks is spreading the virus. I can see the logic to that, but these restaurants need to be able to survive somehow. Outdoor dining can be safer, but will banning all dining of any kind really make that much of a difference? This will be the test. If it does not do anything, then they can contemplate switching back to outdoor dining.

The curfew also is in effect from 10 PM to 5 AM. The main target of the curfew is bars or restaurants where people are unmasked and mingle with strangers less than 6 feet apart. Even if you are 6 feet apart, there is still quite a bit of risk whenever you do not have masks on.

I say test all these options out, and if they are proven to be ineffective, then everyone will know. Then you go back and change everything.

Will the curfew even be enforced? Many police agencies have refused to enforce the curfew. It is up to restaurants and stores to adhere to the curfew. The curfew does not apply to supermarket or pharmacy shopping, getting takeout food, medical care, or emergency needs in California.
I think these new tighter restrictions are intended to be temporary for approximately three weeks to see if things calm down a bit. It's not like LA County wants all these businesses to shut down. They lose a lot of tax revenue by doing this. Same thing with all the cities and the states across the country that are also doing this.
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Re: Lifting of Coronavirus restrictions on restaurants

Post by storewanderer »

klkla wrote: December 7th, 2020, 5:02 pm I think these new tighter restrictions are intended to be temporary for approximately three weeks to see if things calm down a bit. It's not like LA County wants all these businesses to shut down. They lose a lot of tax revenue by doing this. Same thing with all the cities and the states across the country that are also doing this.
Nevada implemented a "pause" with 3 weeks of lower capacities at businesses back in November. Restaurants got set to 25% capacity specifically. Cases continue to skyrocket here. And as I have said mask wearing is very compliant at least from what I am seeing in the retail stores. I haven't been dining inside any restaurants, so not sure how that works.
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Re: Lifting of Coronavirus restrictions on restaurants

Post by jamcool »

All major metropolitan areas in this country have required mask wearing since the spring, yet Covid rates keep going up. It means the masks aren’t working
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Re: Lifting of Coronavirus restrictions on restaurants

Post by Alpha8472 »

The problem is that many people are not wearing masks properly. I see many people wearing masks and having their noses exposed. This is as bad as not wearing a mask at all. When the nose is exposed you are breathing out the virus and infecting everyone else around you. If the mask has a valve or is too loose the virus is spraying out and infecting people around you. Those handkerchiefs are practically useless as the virus escapes out the sides.

The most effective masks are the N95 masks or the KN95 masks from China. These have to be properly fitted. They do a fit test and they spray a scent. If you can smell the scent, then your mask is not sealing out the virus. You are breathing in the virus. I wear a KN95 mask and walk by a person with perfume and sometimes I can smell it. That means my mask is not filtering out the virus. It is very difficult to get a good fit even with the KN95 mask.

The problem is that COVID is spreading where people are not wearing masks properly. This is happening at multiple places. All it takes is one person to catch it and then bring it home. They spread it to family members at home where they do not wear masks. You could catch it at home while eating dinner with other family members. You could catch it while being in the same stuffy unventilated house. You could catch it while eating unmasked at a restaurant outside, etc. The worst is when you are at a store and a person is talking on their cell phone and they pull down their masks because the other person cannot hear them. Or when people pull down their masks to drink or eat inside of stores. All it takes is a cumulative 15 minutes a day around a person without a mask.

I work in a pharmacy and it is slowly getting closer and closer to me. A sister store's pharmacy has 2 people who are in quarantine due testing positive for COVID-19. It is only a matter of time before I will probably catch it.

Our pharmacy requires masks on all customers. However, I constantly see people with their noses exposed. This is where the infection happens. I really want to say something, but I know that hostile angry customers will lash out and start a 10 minute verbal abuse argument. That would be worse. There is nothing more vicious than a person who is angry at a pharmacy worker and they pull down their mask and yell in your face. If someone were to catch COVID-19 and die this would be murder.

To say that masks are not working is wrong. Masks are keeping the infection rates down. If people were not wearing masks at all the death rate would be a slaughter. It would be much worse. What needs to be done is education. They need to do overhead announcements at stores saying that it is important that your nose and mouth are covered at all times. If a person is not wearing a mask over their nose, they must be reminded.

The six foot rule is not working either. The 6 foot rule was started in the 1800s. This is ancient and outdated. It should be 13 feet and that is a minimum. People violate the 6 foot rule all the time. If an indoor place has poor ventilation, the virus can linger suspended in the air for hours. When you are indoors, the air should be blowing by with a wind. I have only seen this at stores such as the Home Depot where you have the vents blowing air all around.

Doctors in hospitals in China caught the virus even while wearing masks. They now wear face shields at all hospitals. This is because the virus can enter through the eyes and also because masks can leak. I wear a face shield at all times at work. I have noticed at the end of the day, my face shield is covered in splatter. It turns out that yes, people talk to you and your face is being covered in droplets of the virus. If everyone were to properly wear masks and face shields we could get this situation under control. However, people are not wearing masks properly, and very few people will wear face shields and masks at the same time.

I do believe that the major source of infection is when people are eating or drinking unmasked around other people. Even if you are outside, the virus can spread. All it takes is a cumulative 15 minutes in one day.
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Re: Lifting of Coronavirus restrictions on restaurants

Post by veteran+ »

Well said Alpha!

People is the reason that COVID-19 mitigation measures do not work as well as they should (though without those measures it would be WORSE).

PEOPLE is the reason we are where we are today.

And there is no better example of this issue than here in the USA. We are stubborn and defiant to our own demise.
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