12 Places Doctors Won’t Recommend You to Visit During COVID-19

Crowded restaurants

I know these are hard times for those who prefer drinking their coffee at a cozy café or have dinner at a restaurant every night. But small, crowded places are the first thing you should avoid if you care about your health.

“There’s not that much data, but just from a safety perspective, I think I would be very careful about going places where the tables are not spread out at a very safe distance,” says Dr. Vyas. “And I get it, you can’t wear masks while you’re eating, but I would want to see that the servers, waiters, and waitresses are wearing masks.”

Bars

Dr. Cate urges people to stay away from indoor bars this summer, as they can put you at a higher risk of getting infected. A lot of people in a small indoor bar is definitely not ideal for the times we’re living in.

“Indoor bars are actually pretty high risk because there are so many touch surfaces, like the door handles, countertops, and tables,” she says. “And I think it’s hard, especially in a crowded setting, for those surfaces to be de-sanitized between every customer. Plus, when people are drinking, they’re less cautious.”

However, if you still wanna live your life and go out, as we all do, choose outdoor bars, like on a patio or a deck, as they’re not as problematic considering they’re outside, and “droplet particles have so much more air to spread out in,” says Dr. Cate.

“But again, you want to make sure that you are not touching multiple surfaces and that you can keep away from other people as much as possible. If you’re having some type of social event, have it outside rather than inside at a bar and do so with a smaller group of people, like up to ten.”

Public restrooms

Dr. Vyas recommends everyone to avoid public restrooms as much as possible, considering how many germs are lurking there already, but if that’s not possible and you really need to use the bathroom, make sure to watch closely for cleanliness.

“If I’m going somewhere and I absolutely have to use a public restroom, I’ll pay very close attention to when it was cleaned,” she says. “And then if I’ve got to go, I’ll make sure that when I go in that I wash my hands and make sure that there are adequate paper towels. As I come out, I wash my hands again. I’m really careful now in certain public places. I try to avoid public restrooms, but if I have to, I take extra precautions.”