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nyc and other municipalities really bungled the categorization of risk. restaurants and bars shouldn't have been lumped together in the first place. most resta
by clairity 6y ago
nyc and other municipalities really bungled the categorization of risk. restaurants and bars shouldn't have been lumped together in the first place.
most restaurants could have employed some modest measures and stayed open at 80-90% capacity (which may be below break-even for some, but probably enough to ride out the pandemic with price hikes and/or modest gov loans), as risk is isolated between tables (no, that one hypothesized case of down-blower transmission is not proof of significant risk) and you shouldn't be sharing breathing space with people you don't trust. people who would eat at a restaurant together likely ate together in private anyway when restaurants were shuttered.
bars, on the other hand, by their very nature make it very difficult to contain transmission risk, because the whole point of a bar is to lower your guard to promote mixed socialization. distancing, talking gently, limiting respiratory ejections, and/or wearing a mask just don't go together with drinking and carousing. (private parties then likely became a primary transmission vector, but there's no way to stop private parties without truly draconian measures.)
we could have let restaurants save themselves by remaining open, and tackled the remaining, more manageable issue of closed bars with supplemental programs.
- daheza 6y agoI feel like this might ignore that a good portion of restaurant sales are from the bar. Chilis, Applebees, to an extent BJs Restaurant. I feel only a few companies have adopted to the fact that you can deliver alcohol. There's no reason that those bar sales, can't be from the restaurant over postmates or uber eats.
- razius 6y agoYou know the point of a bar is not the alcohol, right?
- kevml 6y agoWell, it is. But not the only point.
- jlg23 6y ago> There's no reason that those bar sales, can't be from the restaurant over postmates or uber eats. Except for the prices, maybe? While it is true that most restaurants make most (or even all) of their profits with drinks, customers probably realize that they are paying 200% markup for a zero-effort service if they ordered beers from a restaurant instead of getting them themselves...
- tedivm 6y agoWhat you are saying doesn't seem to be the reality. Studies show that there is in fact risk beyond just your table. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6936a5.htm?s_cid=mm6936a5_x https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6936a5.htm?s_cid=mm... https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/88543 https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/88543
- just-juan-post 6y agoIt's easy to point out risk. Anyone can do that. At what point do we fully re-open? Winter 2022 after everyone has had a mandatory vaccine?
- vinay427 6y agoIt's not enough to just point out or dismiss different risk factors as if they're all the same, and both sides of this debate on restaurants seem to be guilty of this in some circles. Evaluating risk, done appropriately, is more complicated and involves at least weighting the risks of specific dangers of different options.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y agoIs there a particular portion of this study you're referring to? I don't see anything about risk at vs. beyond your table here.
- therealx 6y agoThe CDC just said yesterday that they confirm airborne transmission, and from the case of the choir whom was 6 feet apart, it sure makes it seem beyond one table worth.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y agoThe question isn't whether it's possible at all. It is, I don't dispute that, but even post-vaccine we'll never reach a point where it's impossible to transmit the virus. The question is how high the risk is relative to other things.
- user5994461 6y ago>>> with price hikes If a restaurant hikes the price, I am never going back there. Paying £15-£20 with service charge for a steak or burger is already insane. They can't ask for more, especially at the peak of a crisis where there is no money to pay for it. HN don't get but it but every young graduate is desperate and might not get a job for years while the rest of the workforce got laid off or is under reduced salary.