As everything closes down during this coronavirus era – from the OB and other farmers markets, to concerts, mass meetings, schools, religious centers, to the County’s prohibition of large gatherings – it’s time to ask the question: should people still go out to bars and restaurants? Especially in Ocean Beach – where they are very popular.
Some restaurant groups here in San Diego have already temporarily shuttered their kitchens and doors. And some law makers are asking folks – especially those 40 or under – to stop going out to these places right now. For instance, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is asking people to stop in light of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York, adding that anything closer than six feet to another human is “too close.”
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, the city Health Officer has issued an order last Friday that forces the closure of bars and nightclubs with official maximum occupant loads of 100 people or more. Others are urging people to “keep calm and ‘carry out'” their food from restaurants. There is some concern that people will now avoid the larger venues and go to more tighter, more crowded bars and eateries, potentially compounding the risks.
Many restaurants are already suffering from a 50% loss of customers – whereas others are experiencing crowds.
We don’t have the answers. But at least we’re asking the question. What do you think?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Plenty of folks were out and about in OB yesterday. Looked like a typical OB Saturday.
Had a great veggie pizza & antipasto salad at the Venetian on Friday evening.
Love the Venetian!
Give this virus another week and this question will answer itself. We are in for a really rough ride from novel COVID-19, especially those of us in my age group. Any indoor venue can be a petri dish at the best of times, but if we do not take drastic measures to slow the increase in cases the health system (which is already profit-based and as such does not have many unfilled beds) will collapse.
This is not a drill. Lots of people are going to die soon, and you cannot tell if someone is a carrier by looking at them.
You can support the restaurants by ordering take-out. You can support your Grandpa and Grandma by staying at least six feet apart from everyone else while you fetch it. Pay with plastic or phone app. Avoid handling cash unless you can clean your hands after the transaction.
And for cryin’ out loud . . . STOP HOARDING TOILET PAPER!
Peter of So.O.B.
Lots of people will die you say. 100 or 100,000
My bet is more will die from liquor and hard drugs in your fine city and mine. I suggest you stay out of your car lots of deaths there. Take your pick.. Plant a few seeds while you worry and I’ll bet you will enjoy your harvest. Looking forward to hearing from you over the weekend next few years.
That is South Oceanside, not South OB, Akwhitty. With your attitude towards a pandemic we will end up with an endemic disease, as we did with polio until the vaccine was introduced and rigorously enforced. This social separation is the only real tool that we have now; if you do not give a crap about this public health emergency I sincerely hope that you do not inflict harm upon the rest of society.
Standby for restrictions on domestic travel and forced closure of more and more services.
We do mostly outdoor dining anyway, due to little doggie. So far, we have been able to do social distancing at Barbecue House, Newbreak, and Hugo’s. Other appropriate restaurants are also available. We’re old, but we love our OB dining!
Judy, if you want to KEEP getting older, do what the Governor instructed you to do this morning: stay at home and hunker down!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/parenting/social-distancing-coronavirus.html?referringSource=articleShare
Ahh Americans. Selfish little buggers ain’t they? We don’t care about things that may impact anyone but ourselves. If I wanna go out to eat, I will they say. Fuck everyone else that may be impacted. Sad, very, very sad headset.
The actual mortality rate is impossible to know unless an entire control group is tested, as many with mild or no symptoms will never seek out testing, assuming it’s available. The rate will certainly fall as more people are tested.
A cruise ship is a great example of a control population. On the Diamond Princess every passenger was tested. Half of those testing positive had no symptoms at the time.
The mortality rate was:
0-70: 0%
70-80: 1.1%:
80+: 4.9%.
These numbers are about 5x higher than influenza which gets zero attention in this regard.
Also keep an eye on South Korea. Their testing has surpassed that of any other country, so they will have the highest denominator… but its still only 1% of the population. For comparison, about 14% of Americans get the flu every year.
0-30: 0%
30-39: 0.1%
40-49: 0.1%
50-59: 0.4%
60-69: 1.5%
70-79: 4.3%
80+: 7.2%
What to do with this info? For starters, don’t panic. Keep it in perspective and make rational decisions. Practice good hygiene to avoid contracting or spreading it or taking up precious healthcare resources yourself. And stop hoarding supplies that our seniors may need access to.
Local restaurants should contact the rag and post their hours of operation for delivery, specials etc. so people know who is open and hour they can support their community food businesses.