Are bars a bad place because people are all horned up and hooking up? I’m trying to grasp this. There’s usually tables in between sections and everyone is wearing a mask. Most of the time. Just what I’ve seen from a distance, from the lake.
there's quite a few reasons bars are the worst places open right now. let's assume you're interacting with someone infected that is contagious. There's three main factors controlling your chance of transmission:
1) Proximity - the closer you are, the more likely you'll inhale their droplets. Good on bars at the lake enforcing mask use and social distancing, but as people drink alcohol, I imagine the mask use as distance between parties goes down. You can look at the bar in East Lansing for evidence of this
2) Time - the longer you're interacting with someone, again, the more opportunities to inhale their droplets. Everyone brings up the grocery store checkout line, but you're usually there for what, 2 minutes tops? Your typical casual sit-down dinner is maybe 45 minutes to an hour? While people sit at bars with the same people and in close proximity for hours.
3) Volume - when people sing/yell/talk loudly, they're sending more droplets your way. Bars turn up the music to make it hard to talk so you drink more, but it also makes you talk a lot louder
I'd say another factor that in general increases your odds of infection at a bar vs. a dinner at a restaurant is WHO you interact with. Generally at a restaurant, you're at a table and you interact with the server and the people you came with - you don't come to socialize with other folks. At a bar at the lake, sure, some people are hanging with their own group, but a lot of people are going around and talking to other parties. More interactions = more opportunities for proximity, time, and volume.
Honestly I think phil wants nothing more than to hit his favorite KC restaurants and be the man about town, but I think he's right that most restaurants SHOULD be quite a bit less risky than your typical bar.
