Restaurants Should REQUIRE Vaccination Proof for Inside Dining.

They’re back! Restaurants and bars in BC can re-open to inside dining/drinking.

But for how long? Science has shown Covid from a single infected individual can spread through the air, quite far, in inside spaces … even to tables/customers 15 to 20 feet away.

Read this: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-coronavirus-spreads-through-the-air-what-we-know-so-far1/ and this: https://theconversation.com/how-the-coronavirus-spreads-through-the-air-5-essential-reads-146735 and this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2020/12/15/this-is-how-quickly-covid-19-can-spread-in-a-restaurant-per-new-study/?sh=1c5213651fe4.

So why is BC opening up all indoor dining to all customers, regardless of ventilation, air circulation, quality or whether any or all of the customers have had at least one dose of a Covid vaccine?

I get it: Dr. Bonnie Henry, Health Minister Adrian Dix and Premier John Horgan have been under a lot of pressure from the hospitality industry …and the public too.

But as a result, they may have just set BC up for failure, another Covid spread …and another shutdown.

The government should have opened up inside dining to people who can produce their proof of vaccination (at least one dose) paper.

That’s how Israel re-opened so successfully; why not do it that way here?

And relegate those who have not yet been vaccinated (for whatever reason) to outside dining, patios and/or takeouts.

With restaurants/bars shut down to indoor dining/drinking, BC’s Covid numbers fell dramatically. It worked!

The last thing restaurateurs/bar owners … and all their workers and customers need now … is another lockdown.

But that could be exactly where BC is heading … again.

Horgan and Henry both claimed the new new four-step plan would be returning BC to normal slowly and carefully.

You can see all the steps/scheduling here: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-covid-19-restart-plan.

But when the government, in its very FIRST step, immediately allows unvaccinated people to sit, perhaps even at several tables, INSIDE near and around those who have been jabbed, they are giving Covid a chance to rebound.

People who have taken the time, put in the effort to be vaccinated, deserve protection from those who have refused or have simply not yet had their chance.

At this point in the Covid fight, INDOOR dining should be a reward … not a risk.

So if the government wouldn’t take the steps to ensure success of the current re-opening, by protecting diners and staff, the restaurant managers/owners should .

Establishments that post signs saying they REQUIRE proof of vaccination for indoor seating would be my choice!

And a notice that ALL the staff are also vaccinated would be even better!

Covid is NOT yet over in BC … by any measure: and it’s up to us to STILL protect ourselves, our families and our friends at restaurants/bars … if the government won’t.

Harv Oberfeld

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