Doctors urge restaurants to avoid reopening
Announcement comes in wake of local restaurateur’s letter urging owners to fight back
A group of Michigan doctors who are part of the Committee To Protect Medicare have urged restaurants to help keep people safer by avoiding a rush to reopen and pausing indoor dining to minimize infections.
The announcement comes in the wake of Macomb County-based restaurateurs Joe and Rosalie Vicari’s letter urging other restaurant owners to fight back against state health department orders that closed restaurants to indoor dining until Dec. 8. The Vicaris own 25 restaurants, including the Andiamo chain and Joe Muer Seafood restaurants.
The Committee to Protect Medicare is an advocacy organization made up of frontline doctors engaging in direct advocacy and communications in support of a stronger health care system in America. The executive director of the organization is Dr. Rob Davidson, a west Michigan-based doctor who was born in Fraser.
“COVID-19 is an opportunistic pathogen al
ways on the lookout for a human host, and prematurely reopening dining rooms while infections remain high is to serve people to the coronavirus on a silver platter,” said Dr. Ijeoma Nnodim Opara, MD FAAP, an internal medicine-pediatrics physician in the city of Detroit.
“All of us want people to get back to work and businesses to reopen responsibly, but Mr. Vicari’s call to reopen no matter the health risk is reckless. Data and evidence show that restaurants, bars and cafes are places with the highest likelihood for COVID-19 transmissions, and as physicians, we urge these businesses to help reduce infections by following expert scientific advice so we can all do our part to help keep people safer. Reopening restaurants while COVID-19 ravages Michigan and hospitals are running low on beds and staff will risk the lives of customers as well as countless servers, cooks, cashiers, dishwashers and their families.”
Research shows prohibiting indoor gatherings in venues such as restaurants, bars, gyms and other locations can minimize disease spread. According to the Committee to Protect Medicare, round eight of every 10 COVID-19 infections are linked to restaurants, gyms, cafes, bars and other crowded indoor venues. A separate analysis identifies locations such as restaurants and hotels as superspreader sites. On Tuesday, the Vicaris told the Macomb Daily their letter to industry leaders was misconstrued to be a call for opening their doors in defiance of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state health department. Instead, they say it comes out of a need for survival.
“It was never our intent to be the leader of this revolution. We have tried to back away from that. People have gone crazy on social media, calling us greedy, horrible people, just about everything you can say,” Rosalie Vicari said.
The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association filed a federal lawsuit challenging
the Nov. 15 order from Gov. Whitmer and the state Department of Health and Human Services. A judge on Wednesday refused to block the ban. U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney said a “plausible explanation” for the state order exists: People can’t eat or drink without removing their mask, a step that could spread the virus.
The Vicaris and others in the restaurant industry fear the governor will extend the closures past the Dec. 8 date, which would put additional restaurants in the state out of business. The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association earlier this week told U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney the industry is not likely to survive. The association predicts 4,000 restaurants will be closed for good on top of the 2,000 that have already disappeared, taking 250,000 jobs.
The Committee To Protect Medicare said it is sympathetic, but saving lives must come first.
“We understand that these protections against COVID-19 can add financial stress on already strained businesses and are sympathetic, however, these businesses will suffer more devastating damage if customers and staff continue to fall ill and possibly succumb to this unpredictable infection,” Opara said. “If we don’t get this pandemic under control, we are committing to never giving ourselves the chance of an economic recovery. We urge that the federal government provide interim assistance to help small businesses stay afloat without having to recklessly reopen and endanger more people.”
The group’s call was
echoed by the Michigan Nurses Association in a release Wednesday.
“Nurses see the horrible human cost of COVID-19 every day, now more than ever. We hold the hands of people who die alone in the hospital. We put our own lives at risk to take care of our neighbors suffering from this deadly disease,” Jamie Brown, a critical care nurse who is president of the MNA, said. “Nothing can be more important than saving lives right now by stopping the spread of COVID-19. Nurses continue to beg fellow residents to wear a mask, avoid gatherings, and wash their hands. We urge Michigan restaurants to show leadership by honoring the state’s temporary prohibition on indoor dining. While we understand the tremendous financial sacrifice that the restaurant industry is experiencing, saving lives must come first. We all have to do our part right now to come through the other side of this surge with as few people dying as possible.”
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that COVID-19 patients are twice as likely to report having dined at restaurants compared with people without COVID-19. COVID-19 has killed more than 9,100 Michiganders and infected 360,000 people. Hospitals are reporting 88 percent of their beds are filled, while ICUs are 80 percent full.
To learn more about the Committee To Protect Medicare, go to committeetoprotect.org/.