Will Massachusetts restaurants publicly post COVID-19 cases?
When restaurants start to reopen in Massachusetts next month, some customers will want to know which ones have workers who have tested positive for COVID-19.
In Massachusetts, public health officials have to notify the public when restaurant workers come down with certain diseases, such as hepatitis A. But it's not clear if those reporting rules will apply to COVID-19.
Mission on the Bay owner Marty Bloom says he normally serves 5,000 to 6,000 people on Memorial Day weekend. But not this year — not with restaurant dining rooms and decks closed until at least June 8.
“We live in New England. We wait for outdoor dining. We wait for al fresco dining. We suffer the winter to get to here,” Bloom said.
When restaurants do reopen, servers will wear masks, tables will be spaced farther apart and — if some customers get their way — warnings will be posted for restaurants with workers who've recently tested positive for COVID-19.
“You don't know if any of the other employees have become susceptible and probably carriers,” one man said.
Los Angeles County has started posting online the names of restaurants, shops and other businesses that have at least five workers with COVID-19 symptoms and at least one with a confirmed test.
When Gov. Charlie Baker was asked if Massachusetts is considering similar reporting, he said it's a difficult balancing act.
“There are issues around how you think about confidentiality versus how you think about transparency. And we try very hard to balance both of those,” he said.
For his part, Bloom says he'd be fine with customers knowing if his restaurant has had any COVID-19 cases.
“But we're going to do everything we can to prevent that. Nobody's going to be working in our restaurant without full testing to make sure they're not coming to work with something,” he said.