In a sigh of relief for the city’s restaurants and bars that serve food, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that indoor dining can resume in the city tomorrow under a slew of Covid-19 safety protocols.
Tomorrow also marks the start that other types of indoor activities — like gathering inside places of worship, working out inside hotel fitness centers, and more — can begin again.
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But now that it’s an option, is it safe to break bread inside any one of SF’s eateries again? According to experts, if you follow the rules and respect others, it can be.
First, the rules: SF restaurants and bars serving meals can reopen for indoor dining at 25% capacity, capped at 100 people. Face coverings must be worn by personnel and patrons at all times except when the customer is eating or drinking — so that means it should be worn when ordering, waiting for an order to arrive, or anytime staff is at their table.
Because of how Covid-19 spreads, the city’s newest health and safety guidelines recommend eateries and bars increase the natural ventilation of the space by opening windows and doors when environmental conditions are right. (You know—when the air outside isn’t hazed with wildfire smoke.) Elevated indoor sanitation practices must also be adhered to by any restaurant wanting to reopen its inside dining room doors.
And you, restaurant purveyor, need to make sure you stay put and practice proper social distancing while at any San Francisco dining establishment; no “table-hopping” to see friends or drinking while standing up.
All eateries and approved bars also must verbally screen all patrons upon entry. These may include filling out a written confirmation and having your temperature taken in addition to providing your contact information; the latter is for the restaurant to contact you should an on-site case of Covid-19 be detected that may affect you. Think of this as an idle means of contact tracing.
In a nutshell: Indoor dining can be safe—as long as you do your part to ensure it stays that way.
Wear a mask. Socially distance. Don’t go out while sick or after being in touch with someone with Covid-19. Respect that your meal will be limited to a maximum of two hours. Be nice to the staff and tip well.
Lastly, don’t be a Karen and condemn our already struggling local eateries for abiding by these protocols, which are designed to keep you (and others) safe and healthy amid a global pandemic. In fact, it’s a good idea to leave them a good review.
For more on San Francisco’s Covid-19 safety protocols regarding both indoor and outdoor dining, read through this PDF provided by the San Francisco Department of Public Health. It might also be wise to read through this piece from Elemental that goes into all the things you should contemplate before “you even consider dining indoors.”
