St. Louis Restaurants Set Up Outdoor Dining Structures As COVID Continues

Like many others, St. Louis restaurant owners are getting creative to continue serving customers as winter weather ushers people indoors and the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Dwindling temperatures prompt officials in the restaurant industry to set up tents and other temporary structures to continue outdoor service. St. Louis County still bars customers from dining indoors.

“Airflow is needed to disperse potential virus-carrying droplets,” Sara Dayley of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health explained to KSDK of the safety of outdoor dining structures. “If those walls are down, you’re going to trap everything inside.”

Experts say outdoor dining structures should have openings for additional airflow, and advise takeout as an option.

“You have social distancing between tables 6 feet or more, people wearing masks when they’re not eating or drinking,” Dayley added. “We can’t stress enough to be 100% safe in what you’re doing, wear a mask, drive-thru, carry-out, wash your hands – all things we’ve been doing since early in the pandemic.”

Missouri has tracked more than 21,000 new cases between December 1 and December 7 The state’s positivity rate is 18.9%, latest data show.

St. Louis County’s positivity rate sits at 18%, with more than 3,000 tests each day, on average.

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