Despite restaurants being a high-risk setting, many people find the masking rules amusing. They musn’t understand the science, and/or care about the health and professional needs of those who don’t want to catch COVID. And may be they don’t account for the legal ramifications[1] and economic benefits of mask-wearing[2].
Some facts:
Cooks in the US have the highest death rate from COVID, compared to any occupation. [3]
If they survive, even mild COVID has been associated with reduced ability to smell, which affects taste. This can’t be good news for cooks. [4]
Serving staff carry a high viral load, which increases the risk of COVID transmission greatly. [5]
Understandably, food services staff have the highest quit-rate of any industry - twice as high as healthcare. [6]
Spending time indoors, especially when standing and not masked, greatly increases the risk of COVID transmission.
Why?
COVID is an airborne disease. Most of the virions float upward in warm breath particles from an infected person.
Most restaurants draw in air for the kitchen from the restaurant side of the premises, and exhaust it out the back. This means cooks breathe a lot of virus laden air.
Cooks’ constant exposure to fumes when grilling or frying makes them more susceptible to inflammation[9], which COVID can compound with fatal consequences. [7]
Serving staff also bring COVID into the kitchen as they have high viral loads.
If an infected person is seated without a mask, a passer-by and particularly serving staff are at risk as they breathe the rising COVID-laden breath.
If an infected person is walking by and they cough, sneeze, shout, or sing etc, some larger particles can drop down onto the airspace of a seated person.
Solutions?
One of many mitigations is masks for everyone not seated. The virus is then less likely to get into the air, or drop onto those seated. If those seated also wore masks when not actually eating or drinking, then there would also be less COVID in the air to harm cooks, serving staff and patrons.
If robust ventilation measures and targeted air purifiers for each table were also used, there would be less deaths. Though inconvenient, it is relatively simple, and a lot easier than dealing with death, or the great unknown: the compounding effects of Long-COVID on other afflictions. [8, 9]
Meanwhile, HERE are 1,700 Oz outdoor options.