Dining and the Delta variant

[Robin Garr]

Dining and the Delta variant

Pints & Union in New Albany kept its strict safety standards in place even when vaccinations made the Covid situation look a little better.


When I got my Covid vaccination a few months ago, I thought this long national nightmare was over,. Ha! The nasty Delta variant has brought Covid roaring back.

“This is the worst the pandemic has been,” a masked Gov. Andy Beshear told Kentuckians last week, as more than 4,500 new cases were reported daily, and the state’s 13.66% positivity rate set a grim new record. “Please, at least take the same precautions you did earlier in Covid,” Beshear said.

But let’s face it: It doesn’t look as if that’s going to happen. The numbers may look as bad as they did in 2020, but we aren’t all huddled in our houses, again, living on takeout and delivery. Why not?

First, justified or not, there’s a little less fear. If we’re vaccinated, we’re more willing to take small risks. If you aren’t vaccinated and don’t think it’s important, then what, you worry?

For small businesses, it’s simple economics. Owners and employees suffered financially during the first pandemic wave. Now some fear a second shutdown.

“There isn't one simple answer. If you shut restaurants down again, you’ll kill half of what's left,” said Joe C. Phillips, owner of Pints & Union in New Albany. “If they shut restaurants down this time I think we'll lose half easily. It won't take long. We can't go through this again. Carryout won't support it.”

Meanwhile, Pints & Union staff masks up, and the restaurant continues to require social distancing and other safety measures. They don't stay open late, and they don't pack the place. “But there's no simple solution,” Phillips said. “We can't force people to go get the shot.”

Stacy Adams Roof, CEO of he Kentucky Restaurant Association, said she has heard spotty reports about decreased restaurant business, but very few. “I think operators have generally seen an uptick in carryout business again. Several local finer-dining establishments in Louisville have told me the past few months have been record-setting for them, even over 2019,” she said. “It's a mixed bag.” ...

Read the complete article on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/dining-delta-variant

You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly online this week.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/

Nice investigative work, Robin. You brought in a number of voices that collectively reflect the varied attitudes and realities of this strange stage we find ourselves wading through.

I've been expressing to the wife and others my observation of a two-track approach to covid these days. For myself, I basically only wear a mask when I go to the classroom to teach and for instances like this morning when I went to the doc's for my 6-month checkup. Otherwise, the rest of my world is Lou City and Racing Louisville crowds of 6,000 and 10,000 unmasked fans high fiving, hugging and everything else people do at a sporting event. Last week, I had to drop and pick up my elder son and his friends twice from the Ky State Fair where there were thousands of young folks packed into the outside grounds in the evening. Our visit to the Worldfest Sunday evening was pretty much business as usual. Although not as tightly bunched, the Worldfest was about 80% normal when we were there regarding amount of vendors and crowds.

Although there is a relatively small percentage of vaccinated folks hospitalized, those same folks are rarely in ICUs. What to make of it? You state it well in the article:

"The numbers may look as bad as they did in 2020, but we aren’t all huddled in our houses, again, living on takeout and delivery. Why not? First, justified or not, there’s a little less fear. If we’re vaccinated, we’re more willing to take small risks. If you aren’t vaccinated and don’t think it’s important, then what, you worry?"
.
My conclusion--- que sera sera!

Otherwise, the rest of my world is Lou City and Racing Louisville crowds of 6,000 and 10,000 unmasked fans high fiving, hugging and everything else people do at a sporting event.

Interesting, but getting off the restaurant path, I’ll add a third track. I’ve been to two concerts this week, one indoor and one outdoor, both sold out, so tightly packed. At each, masks stayed on for almost everyone, excluding sips of beer, the whole time. While the mask is odd at first, once things get going, it really doesn’t make a difference, except for those who are determined to make it a sticking point. When people are asked, in these two situations, they have been largely respectful and the experience is not at all diminished.

During the summer of 2020, when house confinement and masks were at their high points, fans were allowed to attend LouCity matches capped at 4,850. Masks were obligatory at all times (except sips of beer) and it was strickly enforced by staff and fellow fans. That is no longer the case. There is no cap nor mask mandate. We'll also likely see 30-40,000 fans at Cardinal Stadium this Saturday mainly unmasked.

As stated earlier, the difference is those with vaccines not too worried about the risk, and those w/o vaccines not too worried about the risks and now not having to wear masks. Much of this pattern holds true for restaurant patrons as well--que sera sera! Or perhaps more fitting--"livin la vida loca!"

As stated earlier, the difference is those with vaccines not too worried about the risk, and those w/o vaccines not too worried about the risks and now not having to wear masks.

I hear you, but I'm adding a 3rd category (even though these aren't parallel situations), which is "those with vaccines not too worried about the risk, but will still mask up if asked". One show required masks, another requested them with a letter from the lead singer. If Lou City chose to require, or even request, I would think (perhaps wishfully) that most would be respectful of it.

Just got back from Kroger, a little over 50% masked, though in an area possibly more prone to do so.

As stated earlier, the difference is those with vaccines not too worried about the risk, and those w/o vaccines not too worried about the risks and now not having to wear masks.

I hear you, but I'm adding a 3rd category (even though these aren't parallel situations), which is "those with vaccines not too worried about the risk, but will still mask up if asked". One show required masks, another requested them with a letter from the lead singer. If Lou City chose to require, or even request, I would think (perhaps wishfully) that most would be respectful of it.

Just got back from Kroger, a little over 50% masked, though in an area possibly more prone to do so.

Gotcha, Silvio. To reiterate our scientifically developed model:

Category 1: Those with vaccines not too worried about the risk, and not necessarily willing to wear masks in public.
Category 2: Those with vaccines not too worried about the risk, but will still mask up if asked.
Category 3: Those without vaccines not too worried about the risk, and now not required to wear masks.

One thing I have never figured out is why "positivity rate" means anything. If everybody was getting tested it might mean something but as it is only people that think they are sick are getting tested in most cases. Obviously in those cases the positivity rate is going to be higher. I'm really not sure how much we can use that to determine anything. Does anybody else have any idea what good it is?

[Robin Garr]

It's complicated, Mark, but experts consider the positivity rate a better measure of how widespread the virus has become than total case numbers. WAVE-3 had a pretty good explanation in this November 2020 story:

What does ‘positivity rate’ mean?

Since the pandemic hit, the phrase “positivity rate” has been referenced ad nauseum on the news and by health experts. It’s easy to get lost in all the information, but there is a reason the numbers and percentages are important.

Based on a seven-day rolling average, on Tuesday, Kentucky’s positivity rate was 9.10 percent, and Indiana’s was 12 percent. So, what does that mean?

”The higher the positivity rate is, the more likely you are to encounter someone who has the virus if you go out in public,” Norton Healthcare Vice President of Medical Affairs Dr. James Frazier said.

The positivity rate is not a measure of how many cases there are. It’s the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that show someone has COVID-19. Not everyone who has COVID-19 gets a test.

Full story here:
https://www.wave3.com/2020/11/18/what-d ... rate-mean/

The positivity rate is not a measure of how many cases there are. It’s the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that show someone has COVID-19. Not everyone who has COVID-19 gets a test.

That's exactly what I thought it was but the fact is that the only people getting tested are mostly people who think they have come in contact with somebody you has it. The majority of people who don't don't bother getting tested. I could see it being a meaningful number if you took 1000 people randomly off the street and tested them to get the percentage but when people have to decide when to get the test based on how they feel or whose they have contacted it's totally an Irrelevant number from a true mathematical/statistical way of thought.