Restaurants & CafeS
Air Rating
Some premises guiding our research efforts:
Covid is principally an airborne disease despite some outdated health authorities claiming otherwise.
A research error made 60 years ago led most experts to give the wrong advice in 2020, and too many continue to do a disservice by emphasising efforts in compliance particularly cleaning surfaces.[1]
The US CDC advises that there is a 1/10,000 chance of catching the virus from a surface.[2]
You need to take ALL the measures including hand hygiene and particularly masks. But the emphasis needs to be on airborne transmission: air is the main thing you share with others. Here is our Blog item on some of the issues.
When considering Covid-safety, outside dining is many times safer than indoors. Here are some lists of venues that seem to have outdoor options, and table service. Avoid indoors with large groups of people talking loudly, unless they take extensive precautions. Hence we are working on separate lists of well informed venues which try to provide Covid-safer indoor options. Meanwhile, 1,700 Australian east coast outdoor dining options:
Aranet4 CO2 monitor
Suggestions of other venues with outdoor seating, and table service are appreciated. You could enter the barest information so we can follow up, or encourage the venue owner to complete the form HERE.
For now, you can use the Comments part to let us know about indoor options which deserve support for implementing ventilation measures as it is not easy to get right. Similarly, we would also like to hear about those that should be avoided.
Some dining out safety tips:
Dine & stay outdoors, hence table service is preferred.
If serving staff wear properly fitted masks, they are less likely to bring unwanted extras to your table.
Avoid going inside, even for the bathroom.
If you do have to go into risky territory, wear a mask, remember hand hygiene and make it quick.
Viral load affects disease severity, so minimise time spent in unsafe places, or near unsafe people.
If you do have to sit or wait inside, be next to an open door or window.
Higher ceilings are better than low ceiling as Covid breath is warm, and rises.
A ceiling extractor fan is ideal.
A ceiling air cooling conditioner could force the virus back down onto people.
If you are serious about your health, invest in a good CO2 monitor such as the Aranet4. High CO2 often means you are breathing air that has been in other people’s lungs. However, it can be affected by kitchen and vehicle fumes.
If CO2 is high, consider leaving, or ensure windows and doors are opened, and air purifiers and extraction fans are operating properly.
In & out fans deployed in the windows can also be helpful to achieve the aim of 100% fresh air ventilation.
But dining outside is simply safer.