Restaurants opening: Are they safe and what are the new rules and guidelines?

Restaurants can reopen on Saturday 4 July for sit-in customers for the first time in months – many have continued offering delivery and takeaway during lockdown but now the rules are relaxing

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On Saturday 4 July, a series of lockdown-easing measures are taking place that mean pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and other services in England can reopen to the public.

For many people, after three months in lockdown being unable to leave home for such leisure activities, returning to a restaurant will be a treat (not to mention no more washing up).

But how safe are restaurants? Are they a high risk environment for Covid-19 transmission? The Independent asked scientists about the risk involved and how best to keep safe.

What do the government rules say?

From 4 July restaurants and cafes can reopen provided they follow similar rules to pubs. These include compulsory table service, assigning a single member of staff per table and encouraging use of contactless ordering from tables.

Restaurants must ensure staff keep a two-metre distance where possible (or one metre "with risk mitigation" where two metres is not viable, is acceptable) from customers when taking orders and if you cannot do at-table service then ensure staff stand behind a screen or table to interact with customers. Nando's may also look a bit different as the rules say restaurants should minimise all customer self-service of food or cutlery.

And no more use of the communal ketchup bottle: provide only disposable condiments or cleaning non-disposable condiment containers after each use.

Restaurants will also be required to keep a temporary record of customers and visitors for a period of 21 days, in order to assist NHS Test and Trace efforts. This should be much easier than for pubs, as restaurants are more likely to have booking systems already in place.

How safe are restaurants?

Food is probably safer than a drink because “food is normally hot - been cooked and then maybe sat under a heat lamp - which is more likely to kill the virus than a room temperature beer served in a chilled glass”. “That is more likely to carry contamination than food,” explains Dr Simon Clarke, professor in microbiology at University of Reading, but overall “the risk of a restaurant or cafe in general is very similar to a pub”.

Dr Robert Dingwall, professor of sociology at Nottingham Trent University and on the Department of Health's Nervtag (New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Group), which advises the Chief Medical Officer on the threat posed by new viruses, agrees: “Cutlery and plates are going through dishwashers and being sterilised at very high temperatures so are likely to be fine.”

What can you do to keep yourself safe?

• Keep your booking small. Although you are permitted to gather indoors with people outside of your household, there can only be a maximum of two households present.

• Stay at your table. You should be encouraged to remain with your household group anyway but like in pubs, the experts suggest staying with your household group rather than getting up to order or go to counters to pay. This also includes trying to avoid using the toilet if possible during your restaurant visit. 

• Don’t use communal cutlery. Dr Dingwall says taking cutlery from a communal pot on the table is “probably not a good idea”, as it may have been there prior to your arrival - get cutlery with your meal. Most restaurants should be doing this as part of their Covid-secure measurements anyway.