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Restaurants figuring out how to do business in a post-pandemic world, when it arrives
With reports that COVID-19 could have, in at least one case, spread via air conditioning, restaurants are figuring out a new normal, if the pandemic subsides.
CHANDLER, Ariz. - There is a study out of China that showed the air-conditioning system inside a restaurant likely led to several infections.
According to the study, a sick person at a restaurant in China infected nine others who were all downwind of the AC airflow.
This study may provide insight into the opening of restaurants, along with the dangers of doing it. However, it has also added to the list of issues restaurants around the world are facing, as they try to figure out how to re-open safely.
What seems certain now is that restaurants will be different, the next time people go and dine in.
"Who would’ve ever thought? That’s not something you think about when you open a restaurant," said Jen Chase with Chase’s Diner in Chandler.
Jen is already planning on big changes for the industry's new normal. No more Customers congregating at a hostess stand or on bar stools, and every other table will likely stay empty. They will also use more single-serve items, such as ketchup packets, instead of a bottle.
"It's sad. It’s a real community feel around here, and I will miss that, but health is the most important thing right now," said Jen.
Then, there’s that question of air conditioning. Virus droplets could travel farther and longer, as it is pushed by the air, but infectious disease doctor Walid Almuti says the viruses probably couldn’t survive most commercial building filtration systems.
"Especially a filter that can filter 2.5 microns are effective in reducing transmission of the virus, especially a building that has external air coming in that will actually dilute it significantly," said Dr. Almuti.
Back at Chase’s Diner, Jen plans to follow CDC guidelines on things like air conditioning and room temperature, when they come out. For now, however, she’s focused on feeding her faithful customers and paying her longtime staff. She is determined to keep the diner cooking for another 20 years.
"It’s really more than a restaurant," said Jen. "I look forward to the day we get back to normal."
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