CDC Report: Dine Out, Have A Side Of Coronavirus

ATLANTA, GA — Adults who test positive for the coronavirus are about twice as likely to have eaten out at a restaurant in the previous two weeks, according to a study released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The results of the study were reported by multiple media outlets both nationally and in Georgia.

The CDC study followed 314 adults with COVID-19 symptoms who were tested in ten different states. About half ultimately tested positive for the coronavirus.

The participants were then quizzed about how often they wore masks and where they were in the 14 days before showing symptoms.

About three-fourths of the participants said they always wore face coverings in public. Also, everyone reported visiting gyms, hair salons and other gatherings at about the same rate.

The only difference was that those who tested positive were about twice as likely to have reported dining out in the two weeks before showing symptoms. Eating is the only activity among those listed that requires removing the mask.

The head of a Georgia organization for restaurant professionals — who’ve already been hit particularly hard by pandemic restrictions — pushed back on the CDC report.

“I don’t understand why this report was written or released,” said Karen Bremer, CEO of the Georgia Restaurant Association, to WAGA-TV in Atlanta.

Bremer noted the CDC’s small sample size and characterized the study as not based in science. She also criticized it for unnecessarily punishing the restaurant business.

“Every day I talk to people, grown men, that are crying, that are losing their business,” Bremer said. “People that have invested their life savings.”

Bremer advised those who didn’t want to dine in to continue supporting local eateries by ordering meals curbside or for takeout.

Georgia Coronavirus Numbers

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported a total of 292,905 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 2:50 p.m. Saturday. According to the health department’s website, that includes 2,143 newly confirmed cases over the last 24 hours.

Georgia also reported 6,287 deaths so far from COVID-19, with 40 more deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. In addition, the state reported 26,327 hospitalizations — 164 more than the day before — and 4,818 admissions so far to intensive-care units.

No information is available from Georgia about how many patients have recovered.

Counties in or near metro Atlanta continue to have the highest number of positives, with Fulton County still in the lead.

• Fulton County: 26,108 cases — 86 new
• Gwinnett County: 25,726 cases — 115 new
• Cobb County: 18,433 cases — 178 new
• DeKalb County: 17,477 cases — 97 new
• Hall County: 8,341 cases — 35 new

Counties in or near metro Atlanta also continue to have the most deaths from COVID-19. The lone exception is Dougherty County, site of Georgia's first major outbreak.

• Fulton County: 554 deaths — 3 new
• Cobb County: 410 deaths — 1 new
• Gwinnett County: 372 deaths —3 new
• DeKalb County: 335 deaths — 1 new
• Dougherty County: 181 deaths

As of Saturday, Georgia has administered nearly 2.9 million COVID-19 tests, with about 10 percent of those tests the less reliable ones used to detect antibodies.

For the more reliable test for the virus itself, 10.3 percent of tests came back positive. For the less reliable test for antibodies, 8 percent came back positive. The overall positive rate was about 10.1 percent.

As more Georgians were tested over the last month, the percentage of positive tests inched upward from about 8 percent to more than 10 percent. However, over the last few weeks, the percentage of positives has stabilized at just more than 10 percent and is now starting to slowly drop. According to the World Health Organization, positive test results should no more than 5 percent for two weeks before reopening for business as usual. Georgia largely reopened for business in April and May, and since then Gov. Brian Kemp has promoted the use of face masks but has steadfastly refused to mandate them.

All Georgia statistics are available on the state's COVID-19 website.

Globally, more than 28.5 million people have tested positive for COVID-19, and nearly 917,000 people have died from it, Johns Hopkins University reported Saturday.

In the United States, more than 6.4 million people have been infected and more than 193,000 people have died from COVID-19 as of Saturday. The U.S. has only about 4 percent of the world's population but more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country.