I second that. Not all restaurants are created equal, too. A quiet place where folks can sit down in small groups and enjoy their meal without having to yell to be heard is not the same as a place where music is blasting so hard that everyone has to scream their lungs out and where large groups are packed like sardines around closely spaced tables. There are two restaurants near us that fall into these two categories, so guess in which one we will not be dining indoors?
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And that’s the real question: does it lower the risk to a level where you can resume normal life? The science suggests that should be the case. But many of us have PTSD after the last year.
I flinch when I’m driving and I see someone start to pull out from a side road ahead of me, because I was in a crash due to someone doing that to me 25 years ago, even though I know I’m not really in danger. And I now have a similar reaction when I see parties or crowds or indoor dining or a crowded airplane. That will take time to recover from.
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All restaurants are not created equal. Many have gone to great expense to put in systems that filter air so as to minimize risk. It works. They need some kudos.
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Well…bars are not the number one place in CT to catch anything as they have been shuttered for a year…but will be reopening soon.
Very true. Our favorite restaurant did just that. It was a big expense but they figured that we were in this for a long haul… this is the place with quiet background music and generously spaced tables. While we have not been indoors for more than a year, we have had a few great meals on their patio. Four more weeks, and we will be fully immunized, but we might continue eating outside because the weather is getting better and better! 
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@Twoin18, I would not assume that the people in restaurants are necessarily vaccinated. It does depend, I think, upon where you are. We drove from New England to Florida in February and drove back in mid-March. In both cases, south of Maryland, we saw lots of folks who were not likely to have been vaccinated (vaccines were not available, they were under 65, etc.). We saw unmasked folks in conveniences stores connected to gas stations close together with no masks, folks waiting around to be seated at a restaurant in close proximity to each other without masks, lots of unvaccinated folks in restaurants, etc. Something like 35% of Republican males say that they are not going to be vaccinated. I don’t know the psychology of this, but I’m guessing that they will not be avoiding restaurants.
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I should have been clearer that I was referring to where we are (NorCal), where two-thirds of adults have already had one dose and 43% are fully vaccinated. Should be 80%+ first dose and two thirds full vaccinated in 3-4 weeks. And about 3-4 new cases per 100K people per day.
I think the demographic in the restaurants generally reflects that it’s vaccinated people attending: three to four weeks ago when it first started getting busy, the vast majority of people were older (65+?). Now it’s a mix of adults, but still no kids, even at the popular burger joint/sports bar that was our go to place with little kids (because it’s loud enough that it doesn’t matter if they scream).
I’ll be somewhat sorry when things open up more and some places will be giving up much of the outdoor venues they created. We had a lovely dinner a week ago in what was a parking lot. but had a tented cover, rugs, plants, etc. Our server said the landlord wanted the parking back in June for his tenants.
I will continue to carefully vet the restaurants we go to. We picked up take out Saturday night across from a popular Pho place in our little beach side town. There were hordes of young people milling about on the sidewalk, in groups, none of them masked. The owners did put up table dividers and really redid their outside dining to follow requirements. Unfortunately that doesn’t help the waiting area.
If you are wondering about demographics and vaccine uptake, here are some survey results:
Does anyone understand the lancet article? I get the rough idea that we only had about 5-10% chance of getting the virus even without the vaccine. With vaccine at 95% efficacy, those 5-10% will be 95% protected meaning only 0.25-0.5% of all vaccinated people will get sick. Did I get that right? If so, it will depend on the infection rate? If 20% get infected as in NYC last spring, 1% of the vaccinated will get sick instead of 0.25-0.5%? The article sounds hair splitting to me. I would stick to 95% efficacy meaning if you had 100% chance of getting sick, you now have only 5% of getting it. Sounds good to me.
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Comments on the just released CDC recommendation that outdoor masks are not needed for small groups or when outside dining, running, biking, etc. ???
We do not wear masks outside in our neighborhood. Never have as a habit (though for months I always had one with me if needed) It’s easy to keep several feet away from anyone. I fully understand it in more populated areas.
I do wear a mask outside if waiting in line for ice cream, in a busy area, etc.
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H and I have been doing our 5 mile walks daily to the beach around our area and we have not been wearing masks when outside. We always have masks with us and will put them on if needed, but one thing we have found over this past year is that we can easily stay 6 feet away from others on our walks.
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In my area most don’t wear masks when outside. In other neighboring areas it is more common.
Outdoors in low density moving situations were those where masking did not make much of a difference to begin with. Masking outdoors is/was mainly of possible help for high density or crowded situations, or static situations like waiting in line.
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Sure, of course. I’m curious about CC people who DO live in high density areas. For my NYC family this is big news. (they may still mask but just saying…)
For those who cannot avoid crowded situations, it may be best to continue masking until everyone who wants a vaccine has gotten fully vaccinated, so as not to cause concern among those who have not had a chance to get fully vaccinated due to shortages. It looks like that date may not be too far off now.
Thanks for all your comments about dining inside. I am not eager to do so, Iike takeout just fine, but I am eager to catch up with a vaxxed friend over coffee or something. Our town closes the Main Street to traffic from Friday to Sunday so that restaurants can set out tables in the street. And some restaurants have (preCOVID!) windows that can open up on nice days. All that seems preferable to a small cramped closed up space.
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I haven’t read the lancet article, but my understanding was that if you have an X% probability of being infected in a certain situation pre-vaccination, your chance of being infected post-COVID is .05*x.
My concern about places like restaurants, like a lot of the public “debate” like Rand Paul’s question of Fauci, is that it the scope of thinking is simplistic in two dimensions. First, being in closed spaces with people may not only expose me to the current coronavirus but may, with some small probability, to the variants not blocked by the current vaccines. As an example, the CDC issued guidance that fully vaccinated folks not travel to Canada in part because of the existence of variants. Second, when I think about rational decision-making, I want to think not just about the probability of an event occurring, but about the consequences of the event if it occurs. In this case, the consequences of COVID can be long-term (the so-called long-haulers) and neurological as well as physical. So, in the the case of Northern California (or Massachusetts) where people are pretty likely to have been fully vaccinated, and hence the probability of post-vaccination infection is quite low, I would still be gun-shy about enclosed spaces with a fair number of people because of the potential consequences especially as variants appear.
Now, I have a question for you guys. We have fully vaccinated friends who want to come over for dinner. We are fully vaccinated as well. They have been very careful before their vaccinations as the husband is seriously immunocompromised. Now, however, they have ongoing visits from their kids who are now, we believe, partially vaccinated. How should we evaluate the risks of having the couple (but not the kids) in our house?
I haven’t read the lancet article, but my understanding was that if you have an X% probability of being infected in a certain situation pre-vaccination, your chance of being infected post-COVID is .05*X.
My concern about places like restaurants, like a lot of the public “debate” like Rand Paul’s question of Fauci, is that it the scope of thinking is simplistic in two dimensions. First, being in closed spaces with people may not only expose me to the current coronavirus but may, with some small probability, to the variants not blocked by the current vaccines. As an example, the CDC issued guidance that fully vaccinated folks not travel to Canada in part because of the existence of variants. Second, when I think about rational decision-making, I want to think not just about the probability of an event occurring, but about the consequences of the event if it occurs. In this case, the consequences of COVID can be long-term (the so-called long-haulers) and neurological as well as physical. So, in the the case of Northern California (or Massachusetts) where people are pretty likely to have been fully vaccinated, and hence the probability of post-vaccination infection is quite low, I would still be gun-shy about enclosed spaces with a fair number of people because of the potential consequences especially as variants appear.
Now, I have a question for you guys. We have fully vaccinated friends who want to come over for dinner. We are fully vaccinated as well. They have been very careful before their vaccinations as the husband is seriously immunocompromised. Now, however, they have ongoing visits from their kids who are now, we believe, partially vaccinated. How should we evaluate the risks of having the couple (but not the kids) in our house?
I thought that the border with Canada is closed because that is what Canada wants. I mean Americans can go to Mexico and I’m not sure they have a great handle on Covid. Or are vaccinating at a great pace.
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