Despite efforts by bar owners to implement government guidance and safety measures, consumers and employees were sticking to simple measures aimed at preventing the spread – even when consumers were intoxicated, the researchers found.
With some business venues for indoor dining in places like New York and Portland, many U.S. business owners are working to make the experience as safe as possible – something that Scottish researchers have discovered is not so simple.
Following the lockdown in the UK, under new guidelines, including keeping groups of customers at least one meter (slightly less than three feet), the bar was allowed to reopen in Scotland in July, in addition, all customers are required to sit down and staff face to face. cover cover.
Professor Niam Fitzgerald and colleagues at the University of Stirling in Scotland visited 29 bars to observe how these safety measures have worked in actual practice.
“It was essentially about understanding what the risks are and how successful our bars and pubs are in controlling those risks.” Said Fitzgerald.
Security measures were ruined
The team found that staff do not wear face masks constantly, reducing their masks to talk to some customers – perhaps defeating the purpose.
While most features were able to rearrange their layout while accommodating one-meter distances between tables, many still had congestion problems.
“It was very difficult for them to completely clear what we call ‘pinch points’, so in most places, there were narrow areas at the entrances, or in the corridors or in the toilets, where it was difficult to avoid customers coming.” Stated.
One facility covered the bar counter with black and yellow tape and warned to stay away, but patrons still crowded around the counter.
“No one confirmed that Tate was there,” the researchers wrote.
The risk the team observed was in the evening, when customers were drinking. Researchers have noted that alcohol consumption can affect a person’s hearing, vision and judgment, making it physically more difficult to follow safety measures. It can also lower the prohibition, resulting in people paying less attention to just complying.
The team saw people jumping from table to table, touching each other and singing or booming.
Some customers made new friends in unexpected places.
The team wrote, “Two women from different groups … started screaming and hugging each other outside the toilet, jumping together.” “They then entered the toilets and went to a cubicle together, then they were seen washing their hands for about two seconds, despite signs recommending a 20-second hand washing everywhere.”
The team described a very weak woman asking a handsome waiter to take a photo with her. He tied up, after which he kissed her on the cheek and thanked her.
Fitzgerald noted that in a single instance, staff were unable to prevent such behavior. “We found that most of the time, they didn’t even try.”
In an industry where the consumer is always right, it can be difficult for employees to legislate when it comes to coronavirus precautions.
In interviews with business owners, many told researchers that they are used to managing intoxicants.
“I think the level of intervention is probably – at least in Scotland – when people are very drunk and they’re disoriented,” Fitzgerald said. “Whereas, this kind of drunken behavior happens at a stage where people are overly friendly; they’re just having fun. It’s not the kind of situation where staff have to intervene earlier.”
He added, “There is a new expectation of this kind of behavior that was not really aligned with customers or staff.”
Risk mitigation
Fitzgerald believes that by clearly communicating expectations and trying to create an atmosphere of “self-policing” among customers, Bars is able to reduce some level of risk. Unlike places like a grocery store or retail store, bars are inherently social spaces, and efforts to make them less can lead to fewer customers.
Fitzgerald noted that the government could help mitigate the risks by implementing curfew-like mitigation measures. After a major outbreak in August Gust joined more than 20 bars and rest restaurants in the Scottish city of A Burden, researchers noted that Scotland is tightening its guidelines. The country mandated the collection of consumer information to comply with the agreement so that people would not have to boom or bend over to listen to each other, and banned background music in places.
Of course, there is no way to completely eliminate the risk.
“It’s really looking at the moment, the transmission rate is so low that we can afford this level of risk and be confident that if there is a transmission, we can find and find it, and we can deal with it. Without it becoming a big issue? ”Fitzgerald said.
Many business owners are well aware that shutting down during an epidemic can be economically disastrous.
“I guess governments need to think about what support is available for those spaces, so they don’t feel obligated to open up if they don’t seem to be able to work really safely.”
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