Even after diners in my state were reopened while I was in the worst phase of the pandemic, I refused to eat out.
The number of infections was still high plus my dentist was honestly blunt with myself and others about the risks.
He said that people have no option but to detach their masks when they eat. Even if every person walked in with a mask on plus reattached them after every single bite, it would still result in respiratory particles getting into the air on a minute by minute basis. He said it was 1 of the highest risk sites for COVID transmission. I was never the most notorious person for eating out at diners, but I still loved doing it with my friends every once in a while. Out of an abundance of caution, I quit going altogether a year ago. Now I am put at ease knowing that some of my number one local eateries have since vastly improved their ventilation systems. Some have bought large ductwork with immense cooling systems that have fans running always. That means that there is constant air flow inside the diner even when the cooling system doesn’t need to turn on to maintain the temperature setting on the thermostat. Having this steady air modern moving at all times vastly reduces the risk of an infected person making various purchasers plus staff members sick if they come inside plus rest down for an entire meal. Instead, those hypothetical viral particles will get collected by the HEPA filter inside the diner’s cooling system. Between HEPA filters plus UV lights, these modern Heating, Ventilation, plus A/C systems are well equipped for airborne viruses.