Ask ME: Is dining in an outdoor structure safer than inside a restaurant?
Experts say that, when properly ventilated, outdoor structures can be a reduced-risk dining option.
By JACK ALLSOPPPortland Press Herald
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Ventilation and contactless service help reduce the risk of dining out in indoor structures, like these domes at Rising Tide.
Photo courtesy of Rising Tide Brewing Co.
The outdoor dining structures, like tents, shacks and plastic domes, that have popped up at restaurants and breweries during the pandemic have been mocked on social media and criticized as hypocritical: So it’s OK to eat inside, as long as it’s outside, their skeptics question.
The Wrap: COVID causes temporary closures, and 64 Pine St. is finally leased
Plus, foods to soothe pandemic anxieties, from doughnuts to plant-based dinners.
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The Portland Food Co-op at 290 Congress St. will be closed through Sunday because a second staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, the store’s general manager said in an email sent out to customers Monday.
The store had initially closed last week after an employee tested positive on Jan. 3. The rest of the workers were tested, and the store was sanitized before reopening Thursday afternoon. A second employee tested positive Sunday, prompting another closure. This time the store will remain closed through Jan. 17, general manager John Crane said. The store has shut down its curbside service during this closure as well.