Three seemingly healthy families were struck by COVID-19 after dining at neighboring tables in a windowless restaurant in Guangzhou.
Researchers studying the case think that the restaurant's air-conditioner blew the viral droplets of one person who was asymptomatic farther than they might have normally gone. Nine other people across the three families later got sick.
It's a frightening prospect for people trying to keep a healthy distance from others. But in a potentially hopeful finding for the locked-down restaurant industry, none of the 73 other diners and eight employees in the restaurant at the time got sick, the researchers added.
For the struggling restaurants desperate to reopen in the coming months, the researchers' findings are evidence that work will not just return to normal after the pandemic, but there might be ways to limit the risk of spreading the virus. There will likely be caps on how long patrons can spend eating, restaurants will operate at lower capacity, air-conditioning or heating may have to stay off, and employees might be advised to wear masks.