It has been weeks since many nonessential businesses have closed down. It seems as if some states are starting to loosen those restrictions and allow businesses to open, provided they follow the rules.
Restaurants in Ohio have stayed open for delivery and carryout orders. It was not possible to dine inside of restaurants in that state because of the coronavirus pandemic. That is now changing.
The new regulations begin on May 15, allowing diners to eat on outdoor patios at the restaurant. Starting May 21, diners can begin to eat inside restaurants but there are restrictions that must be in place. Those guidelines have to be followed carefully.
In Canton, Ohio, there is a restaurant that used some creativity in order to establish social distancing in their establishment. The breakfast café, Twisted Citrus, has some owners that want to keep social distancing in place. They decided to rearrange the seating so that diners are sitting back to back, rather than sitting next to each other. They also did something else: plastic shower curtain liners were installed between the tables.
The co-owner of Twisted Citrus, Kim Schapiro, spoke about the idea to install shower curtains to The Canton Repository:
“I came up with the idea of clear vinyl shower-curtain liners as dividers between tables. They’re suspended from the ceiling with hooks and drop down to where the back of a chair would be. We can spray (the curtains) down with Lysol and COVID cleaner spray.”
There will not be 6 feet between the diners at the café but the curtains will provide a physical separation. They use to have seating for 80 diners but now it has been reduced to 55. It would have been much less if they wouldn’t have put the shower curtains in place.
Schapiro has the comfort level of the visitors foremost in mind:
“We are catering to the people who are comfortable to come out to a restaurant with precautions. We’re trying to make our guests know that we’ve done something different and that we care.”