National Restaurant Association: Don't make us scapegoats for COVID-19 increases
The National Restaurant Association is defending its industry against claims that restaurants are a source of COVID-19 community spread.
The restaurant group on Tuesday sent a letter to the National Governors Association in which it noted there is no scientific evidence linking restaurants to the increase in COVID-19 cases. It also urged the NGA to consider policies and regulations that will enable the industry to safely serve their communities for the duration of the pandemic.
"There is an unfounded impression that restaurants are part of the problem, and we are suffering as a result of inconsistent, restrictive mandates," Tom Bené, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association stated in the letter. "Data tying systemic community outbreaks of COVID-19 to restaurants has yet to emerge, but we are too commonly labelled as 'super-spreaders,' and have become a convenient scapegoat for reflexive shutdowns."
The letter detailed the safety measures and precautions that restaurants which “operate within the Association’s safety guidelines” have taken, including mandatory face coverings for staff and guests, frequent sanitization and cleaning of high-touch surfaces, and updated floor plans that ensure at least six feet of social distancing between tables. To date, a systemic outbreak of COVID-19 has not been found coming from the hundreds of thousands of restaurants around the country that operate within the Association's COVID-19 Safe Operating Guidance and follow the guidelines of local public health safety regulations, the group said.
As governors determine whether socially facing businesses like restaurants should be closed or scaled back, the Association urged them to take the following suggestions into consideration:
• Regulations and decisions regarding restaurant operations that are based on facts and contact-tracing data, not hypothetical simulations of transmission.
• When restrictive regulations are imposed, such as capacity restrictions or shutdowns, it should be clear what health metrics must be achieved to return to the previous level.
• Restaurant operations should be treated the same as other retail establishments. Shutting down indoor dining should be considered a last option.
• If a shutdown is mandated, restaurants should be recognized as essential businesses and remain open for off-premises sales (e.g., takeout, delivery, and drive-through), as well as outdoor dining.
• Restaurants should receive as much advance notice as possible of changing regulations.