No buffet for you.
Friday, April 24th, 2020
Today is the first day of the state of Georgia’s attempt to, well, it’s hard to say what exactly. The governor’s office might say “restart the economy,” but facts seem, to me, to line up behind “put us all at greater risk”.
First of all, his executive order is entitled “Reviving a Healthy Georgia.” The choice of the word “reviving” seems off here, because if you’re healthy, I don’t think you need life breathed back into you. And the whole “reviving” thing in the context of a virus that is communicable through aerosol particles…well, yeesh.
For the brave/foolhardy/desparate restaurants that wish to offer inside, at-your-table service, there are a bunch of guidelines, some hilarious:
- Discard all food items that are out of date;
- Discontinue use of salad bars and buffets;
And some simply in the category of “you mean they aren’t already doing this?”:
- Clean and sanitize restrooms regularly, check restrooms based on the frequency of use, and ensure adequate supply of soap and paper towels at all times;
- Ensure the Food Safety Manager certification of the person in charge is up to date and provide food handler training to refresh employees;
- Thoroughly detail, clean, and sanitize the entire facility prior to resuming dine-in services and continue to do so regularly, focussing such cleaning and sanitation on high contact areas that would be touched by employees and patrons;
As for us, we’ll pass on the dine-in experience for a while longer. Maybe a long while longer. Maybe until we hear more from scientists and experts on how we’re doing at phase one of this — distancing to prevent the spread.
