While the restaurant industry has suffered severely during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially with cold temperatures making outdoor dining difficult, many people are wondering if it is safe to dine indoors. According to the hospitality trade, bars and restaurants accounted for only 1.4% of COVID-19 cases in New York state, and the industry is legally challenging indoor dining bans. But a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that adults who tested positive for COVID-19 were twice as likely to have dined in a restaurant than individuals who tested negative.

According to The Conversation, Dr. Laurie Archbald-Pannone, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Virginia, said she used to eat out at least three times a week, but her last visit to a restaurant was March 12, 2020. “I feel that being inside without a mask on — even just to eat — is not an option for me,” she said.

Dr. Thomas A, Russo, an infectious disease expert from the University of Buffalo, agrees and says he has been saying “no” from the onset of the pandemic. “The greatest risk of getting infected with SARS-CoV-2 is being indoors with people who aren’t wearing masks at all times,” he told The Conversation. “The concern isn’t just the big respiratory droplets when close to someone talking; it’s also the tiny aerosols that linger in the air.”

While most healthcare professionals nixed the idea of indoor dining, one said she would because she has already had COVID-19 and feels that her immunity is intact. Dr. Sue Mattison, provost of Drake University and a professor in the College of Pharmacy and Health Services, told The Conversation that she frequents restaurants that have reduced their number of tables and are spacing them six feet apart. But she advises that “those who have not recovered from COVID-19 should refrain from eating at restaurants until the community has a better handle on the spread of infection.”

According to Business Insider, the CDC recommends that dine-in customers stay six feet apart and keep their dining parties small. Ideally, people who dine at the same table should be members of the same household because they are exposed to each other every day. The agency also recommends that employees were masks.