WEBVTT - Can Enclosed Outdoor Dining Really Be Safe? 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:06.400 Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day two and 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:11.920 fifty one since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. Today's 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:15.440 main story. Outdoor dining has turned out to be a 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:21.599 great way to mitigate virus risk, but winters here, forcing 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:25.840 restaurant owners to improvise with heat lamps and walled enclosures. 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:29.760 So at what point does an outdoor space start to 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:34.720 become just a room with all the same infection risk. 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:45.280 But first, here's what happened in virus News today. Visor 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:49.040 and bio en Tech are requesting emergency authorization of their 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:54.160 COVID vaccine today. It could take at least three weeks 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:57.720 for the US Food and Drug Administration to make its decision. 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:04.400 Studies show the vaccine is effective and doesn't have any 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:09.160 major safety issues. It could be the first vaccine leaguered 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:13.040 for use, and the first doses could be administered as 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:19.200 early as December, but first FDA staff and outside advisors 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:24.080 must thoroughly vet the trial data provided by the company. 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:29.240 In the US, the virus is still raging unchecked. Almost 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:33.240 twelve percent of all hospital beds in US hospitals were 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:38.760 occupied by COVID nineteen patients on November. That's the most 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:42.759 since April twelve, according to the US Department of Health 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:49.160 and Human Services. Finally, in Europe, there are some signs 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:52.920 that lockdown measures are beginning to curb the virus spread. 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:57.840 France's Prime Minister said curfew and lockdown measures to keep 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:02.040 the pandemic in check are produced sing effects, and that 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:06.080 if things stay on this track, small stores could reopen 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:11.520 in early December. In England, the infection rate continues to rise, 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:15.440 but the pace of increase has leveled off in recent 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:27.200 weeks and now for today's main story. Restaurants across the 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:31.200 country have been building and using outdoor dining spaces since 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:37.160 the summer, but as winter approaches, many establishments are converting 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:41.919 them into sheds or tents to help keep customers warm. 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:45.840 As reporter Kristen V. Brown reports, these new structures can 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:51.959 sometimes feel more indoors than outdoors. We wondered how safe 0:02:52.000 --> 0:03:00.280 they really are for patrons. It's a chilly forty reas 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.840 on a Monday evening in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and the 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:09.240 local restaurant, Miriam, is mostly empty. Several little individual dining 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:12.440 rooms sit just outside the front of the restaurant. They 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:15.679 share a tin roof and are separated by plastic panels. 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:20.560 Owner Raphael has Seat says they're like capsules. They may 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:24.720 be outdoors, but they're enclosed, forming their own private space. 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:29.079 So people will basically sit kind of indoor, but just 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:32.760 by their own table. So we'll close everything around them 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:37.760 and put heaters, Raphael says. Miriam debuted its new winter 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:42.120 dining area just a few days ago, and he says 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:46.480 it seems to be working sure enough. Even at five 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:50.200 PM on a cold evening, several of its tables fill up. 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:53.280 People love it. People love if they you know, it's 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:56.800 it's pretty, it's comfortable, it's you know, you don't feel 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:00.960 their wings, so it's nice to see people that are 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:08.440 very happy about it. Structures like this have been popping 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:12.920 up all over the country, including New York City. Some 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:17.200 establishments have taken the capsule approach, like Miriam, where each 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:22.239 table is enclosed in its own structure. Others have built giant, 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:26.640 shared outdoor dining rooms. Some of these spaces present the 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:31.960 same risks as indoor dining. For example, entirely enclosed structures 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:36.480 could block airflow and allow particles containing the virus to linger. 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:41.280 Lindsay Marr is an engineer who studies airborne transmission at 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:45.080 Virginia Tech. She says the safety of many of these 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:50.000 spaces is somewhere between indoor and outdoor dining. If the 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:53.719 air is fairly stagnant, it's not windy conditions, then things 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:55.960 could certainly kind of be trapped a bit by the 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.960 three walls and the roof of that tent. The best 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:01.280 way to think about it is imagine that everyone is 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:05.039 smoking a mini cigarette, and you know, if it's windy 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:07.080 and let's good air flow through there, then that smoke 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:09.960 will be kind of removed quickly and I won't build up. 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:13.080 Lindsay says there are ways for restaurants to balance keeping 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:19.880 their customers warm as well as safe a roof, two walls, 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.200 and continuing to follow the other protocols, like making sure 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.640 tables are spaced apart and people are wearing masks when 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.160 they're not eating, But she says she would be unlikely 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:32.200 to eat in one of these tents. Yes, if nobody 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:35.159 else were there, or if there were very very few 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:39.600 other people there, just my my household, I would. I 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:43.400 wouldn't do it with people outside my household, clearly, though 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:48.719 others aren't quite as discouraged. A Bonnie's grill on Fifth Avenue, 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:52.640 Leo and Montrell have just finished up their meals. They 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:56.440 declined to share their last names. Here's Leo. This is 0:05:56.480 --> 0:06:01.520 my only fourth foray since March. Being eating outdoors, bonnie 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.640 set up has three walls enclosed with table space six 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:08.559 ft or so apart. Leo says that so far he's 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:12.479 only eating outside. They both say measures like spacing out 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:15.799 tables and good ventilation made them a lot more comfortable, 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:19.600 but Montrel says he would eat indoors or out. Well, 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:22.640 I've done. I've done both and over the past few 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.360 months because I work in hospital and think cat of 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:30.600 the covids is stressful. So like if this Messican restaurant 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:33.280 and Winsbrook, I have eaten inside and it's nice, but 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:35.000 they have to keep both ends of the doors open 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:36.760 like MoMA, just the outside of the cold wind and 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.400 stuff are coming in. But I think as it gets colder, 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:44.040 they need to open more capacity for indoor dining. Wild 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:47.360 another Fifth Avenue restaurant, Tony is having a date night 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:50.640 out with his wife. They're sitting in a fairly enclosed 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:54.360 dining tent near the entrance. They were the only ones there. 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.480 We decided to eat outside because there was only another 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:00.520 couple here at the time, and now we're the only 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:04.320 couple here at the time. Right yeah, Yeah, that's a 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:06.440 great comfort right there. That's a great thing right there, 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:10.160 only says anytime he wants to eat out, he assesses 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:14.120 each restaurant set up carefully. They were seated right next 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:16.360 to the entrance of the dining tent, and he says 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:19.920 that was on purpose. Well, my thing is this. I 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:22.720 like it that this area right here is open, and 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:24.920 I feel a lot more comfortable if this weren't closed 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:26.680 and it was like maybe a flap to come in 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:29.360 or just a small enclosure to come in. I don't 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:32.560 know if I feel that comfortable about it. Raphael, the 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:36.520 restaurant owner, says he decided to build individual outdoor dining 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.760 rooms because it seemed like the best balance of comfort 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.480 and safety for his customers. He just doesn't think New 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:48.200 Yorkers will keep eating outside all winter long. His spaces 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.360 will not only block out the wind, but also feature heating, 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:55.800 and for those who perhaps didn't dress warmly enough, he 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:58.720 even offers a blanket on the menu for four dollars. 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.600 We Steve want to live, you know, like this all 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:06.960 opening open for it to come in and out. It's 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:12.880 definitely not hundred and closed there. You know, it's wooden plastic. 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:16.040 We say sanitized, and we you know, we do all 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:20.960 the necessary things too for the surface of things, and 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:27.240 I believe it's safe, really safe. Profile also says he 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:30.680 didn't want to rely too heavily on business from indoor 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:34.280 dining in New York. It's allowed for now, but the 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:38.800 city's case rate is climbing and that might mean another shutdown. 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:43.160 We are lucky to be so established and proactive about everything, 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:45.480 so I have a really good feeling that we survived. 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.160 But I can see how you know, I don't know 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:51.200 the percentage, but I really believe that after this winter, 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:55.600 it will be a you know, a very sad picture 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.559 of seeing so much restaurant they didn't make it. Even 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:03.360 if it's a bit chilly. Dining outdoors is just simply 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:07.360 the safer option. But a blanket on the menu not 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:16.240 a bad idea. That was Kristin V. Brown with additional 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:20.040 reporting from Emma Court, and that's it for our show today. 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:22.800 For coverage of the outbreak from one hundred and twenty 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:27.280 bureaus around the world. Visit Bloomberg dot com, slash Coronavirus, 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:30.480 and if you like the show, please leave us a 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:34.920 review and a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.200 the best way to help more listeners find our global reporting. 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:43.920 The Prognosis Daily edition is produced by Topher Foreheaz, Jordan Gospore, 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:49.360 Magnus Henrickson, and n Laura Carlson. Today's main story was 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:53.720 reported by Kristin V. Brown and Emma Court. Original music 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:58.120 by Leo Sidrin. Our editors are Rick Shine and Francesco Levi. 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:03.360 Francesco Levi is Bloomberg's head of podcasts. Thanks for listening, 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:10.720 mm HM.