VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Friday is the first full day of the Hampton Roads community being back into Phase 3 of Governor Ralph Northam’s coronavirus reopening plan. This means several changes. A couple of those include loosening the rules for social gatherings and lifting a 10 p.m. limit on alcohol sales.
Northam took Hampton Roads back to Phase 2 about six weeks ago, when the number of positive coronavirus cases in our area started going up. Now they’re trending back down, and business owners expect to feel the benefits of loosening restrictions, again.
David Edelen is the owner of Eurasia Restaurant, in Virginia Beach. He said the biggest difference for his business in Phase 3, is that it lifts the limit on alcohol sales.
“Well we’re excited,” said Edelen. “Pretty much have to take away drinks from our guests every single night.”
Down the block at the Oceanfront Hilton, the food and Beverage Director, Warren Zinn, said being in Phase 3 will make a difference for them in another way.
Now, social gatherings are limited to only 50 percent capacity for an event space, or a max of 250 people.
“For our banquet team and our catering team, that’s a big deal,” said Zinn.
However, these loosened restrictions come on the heels of a new study by the Centers for Disease Control. That study found adults with coronavirus are about "twice as likely" to say they dined at a restaurant 14 days before getting sick with COVID-19.
“I didn’t take the information as surprising,” said Dr. Marlene Capps.
Capps said the results don’t reflect upon the work by restaurant management, but more-so the people visiting.
“It was confirmatory that behavior merrily matters,” said Capps.
She means people who spend more time out socially are more likely to get sick, but Capps said coronavirus isn’t always spread by strangers.
“By and large it’s still a disease spread by close contact with individuals who know each other,” said Capps.
Meaning mainly among family members. Restaurant owners responded to the study too.
“We as restaurant owners, do the best we can to make the dining environment safe for all of our guests,” said Edelen.
“It’s a good reminder for people to continue to observe all of the guidelines of the CDC,” said Zinn.
No matter where you go or what you do, Capps said that behaviors like mask-wearing and physical distancing will also help with reducing the spread of the flu.