Why bars should be the 1st thing closed as COVID-19 cases rise, according to science


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
When COVID-19 cases started surging across the Sun Belt, Texas closed the bars. A few hours later, Florida followed suit, then California, then a day later, Arizona. "If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars, now seeing in the aftermath of how quickly the coronavirus spread in the bar setting," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said last Friday. The "bar setting, in reality, just doesn't work with a pandemic." This isn't puritanism, it's science. Bars are especially dangerous vectors of coronavirus transmission.
Public health experts say if people are going to leave their homes during the pandemic, they should maintain a distance of six feet from others, wear a mask to contain the saliva droplets and aerosolized breath that spread the virus, and stay outside as much as possible. Bars, one study in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases put it, promote "heavy breathing in close proximity."
Bars are "the opposite of social distancing," Dr. David Hamer at Boston University School of Medicine tells The Associated Press. "Can you do social distancing at a bar? Can you wear a mask while drinking?" Drinking alcohol also lowers inhibitions and makes people more likely to flout safety precautions, especially the younger people who go to flirt and socialize at bars, added Natalie Dean, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Florida. "Young people have less severe illness, so they may be infected and able to infect others inadvertently."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Arizona epidemiologist Saskia Popescu tells AP it can be hard for public health agencies to trace outbreaks to any individual location when they are overwhelmed by spiking cases, but when the dust settles, bars will likely figure prominently in the hot spots.
"You can make a cocktail at home," Popescu suggests. In many states, bars can (more or less) safely sell you the ingredients.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.
-
Elon Musk used Starlink, which saved Ukraine, to thwart a Ukrainian attack on Russia's Crimea fleet
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Fitch downgrades US credit rating, citing 'repeated debt-limit political standoffs'
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Bed Bath & Beyond relaunches online following bankruptcy
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
San Francisco's iconic Anchor Brewing is closing after 127 years
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Lawmakers say tax prep companies illegally shared taxpayer data with Meta and Google
Speed Read
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Microsoft wins FTC battle to acquire Activision Blizzard
Speed Read
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Tesla reports record quarter for sales
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
48 states sue telecom company over billions of robocalls
Speed Read
By Theara Coleman Published