Time to rethink indoor dining again? These are the Bay Area’s ‘tripledemic’ risks

This year, while
sewage samples
indicate a new coronavirus surge is underway, restaurants can operate essentially without COVID restrictions. That means they’re getting big group bookings and large Christmas parties again, and especially with the recent cold weather, more people are opting to dine indoors.

But this year also brings a new obstacle:
the “tripledemia”
a combination of COVID, flu and
respiratory syncytial virus
that could exacerbate chronic staff shortages at restaurants as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and lead to more reservation cancellations.

Popular San Francisco restaurant Zuni Cafe
announced a temporary closure
from November 30 to December 7 due to a “surge” in COVID cases among staff members, indicating a possible move for more restaurants if tripledemic takes hold. The Chronicle was unable to reach the restaurant for comment.

So is it time to rethink indoor dining again? Or can Bay Area restaurants and diners get through this winter season more normally, albeit with some added caution?

What are the experts doing?

Infectious disease experts expressed different levels of tolerance for the risk of indoor dining during the holidays, as did other diners, according to several Bay Area restaurateurs interviewed by The Chronicle.

Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSF’s chief of medicine, tweeted Nov. 11 that he was discontinuing indoor dining because the risk of COVID had “markedly” increased.

in a
recent interview with La Crónica, said he is up to date on COVID vaccinations and wears a KN95 mask in crowded indoor settings. Their 12-person Thanksgiving gathering was held mostly outdoors, with guests undergoing rapid antigen tests beforehand.

“That to me is a reasonably prudent and moderately careful way to live life that’s not that onerous,” Wachter said. “But I certainly know perfectly reasonable people who are doing less than that and have just decided they’re willing to take the risk.”

John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley, said indoor dining is “riskier today than it was a month ago,” and he thinks things will likely get worse with COVID and the flu, though RSV may have reached its peak. Maximum point.

He said he hasn’t been dining indoors, but enjoys eating outdoors in places with heaters because “the added safety of outdoor dining more than makes up for the cold.”

Swartzberg said restaurants have higher numbers of customers this winter compared to the past two seasons.

“It seems that most people are willing to take the risk of contracting COVID, influenza or RSV,” he said. “What’s good for restaurants is unlikely to be good for the public’s health.”

UCSF infectious disease expert Peter Chin-Hong said tripledemic means he’s being “more diligent than ever” about wearing a good mask and thinking about ventilation. But he continues to dine indoors.

“As a person vaccinated against COVID and influenza and vaccinated with the bivalent COVID vaccine who is otherwise healthy, I do not see myself at risk of serious consequences of COVID, or influenza or RSV, but I will do everything I can to reduce my risk of infection that will be extremely detrimental to my life,” he said. “Gathering for indoor dining with family and friends is very important to me.”

While eating out, Chin-Hong said, she tries to mitigate risk as much as possible with specific strategies: sitting near a window if possible, keeping her dining group “modest” to fewer than six guests, wearing her mask when he gets out of bed. table and wash hands before and after eating.

How do restaurants manage?

Several Bay Area restaurants also said they are approaching the winter season with caution, including Cassava in San Francisco.

“We are concerned about the cancellations of large parties, but I think people are more excited to stay home,” said Yuka Ioroi, co-owner of Cassava.
who moved
from the Outer Richmond neighborhood to a larger space in North Beach earlier this year. “Our new location was designed with a lot of ventilation in mind with a very high ceiling, so we are better off in that regard compared to our old location.”

While some workers have been out with the flu, the restaurant has been able to cover those shifts, Ioroi said. All staff continue to wear masks, preferring “this safer work environment” to a mask-optional setting, she added, while many diners continue to prefer to eat indoors rather than outdoors.

A
foreign cinema, co-owner and chef Gayle Pirie said the Mission District restaurant is lucky to have “a very large footprint” with a large patio equipped with heaters and a see-through canopy. The interior space has high ceilings and antiviral circulation systems, she said.

Pirie described the restaurant as “busy,” with workers guaranteed overtime. She said few employees have gotten sick so far, but if that were to change drastically, they would close if necessary. Foreign Cinema closed just once during the pandemic, for a week in January 2021, she said, when the restaurant had not received the masks and tests she had ordered.

As for patrons, Pirie said she’s noticed more people want to eat indoors due to the cold weather, even with the option of comfortable outdoor seating.

“It’s getting dark earlier and people tend to want to gravitate inside,” he said. “But we can accommodate anyone.”

Pete Sittnick, Managing Partner of
Waterbar and epic steak
at the Embarcadero, he said the pandemic situation is not as intense as it was in 2020 or 2021. But challenges remain.

It can be difficult when employees call in sick, he said. Restaurants have to fight to fill those gaps, or fall a bit short. But so far none of the restaurants have had to close due to staff shortages, she said, including during last New Year’s Eve, when a larger number of employees came out with COVID.

As for customers, Sittnick said his restaurants have seen an increase in reservation cancellations or people leaving larger groups due to COVID, but not to the level of the past two winter seasons. In fact, many of the biggest features that have been canceled or postponed in the past two years will finally return, she said.

Some guests still want to eat outdoors, even in recent cold spells, he said. The two restaurants keep patio seating open for such requests, except during “torrential rain,” forcing the closure of outdoor operations.

The prevailing feeling is that “we probably have to live with this forever,” Sittnick said. “That’s inconvenient, but it’s something we’ll have to live with in the future.”

Kellie Hwang is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @KellieHwang