Asked and answered: What readers want to know about coronavirus

“I live in Washington, D.C., and I’ve seen clear tents or ‘pods’ being set up outside of restaurants to continue the outdoor dining into the cooler months. Are these safe? Even though it’s technically dining outdoors, with the door zippered it seems you have created an indoor environment. As much as I want local restaurants to say afloat, this just seems like a loophole and ultimately a similar risk to indoor dining.”

—Anna from Washington, D.C.

Unfortunately, there is no right answer here, but there are different levels of risk to be aware of before going into one of these spaces.

These “pods” can be an effective way to reduce your exposure to other diners — provided it is one table per bubble, said Paul Sax, clinical director of the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “From just a mathematical basis, it’s safer than dining in a restaurant, where you have, potentially, exposure to multiple other people,” he said.

However, when it comes to exposure to diners within your pod, you’re exactly right. While the bubbles are physically out in the open air, enclosing people inside without adequate ventilation may be akin to “creating indoor dining outdoors,” said Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University.

That means it is possible for the droplets people produce when they’re talking or breathing to build up inside the bubble, said Linsey Marr, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Virginia Tech who studies airborne transmission of infectious diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus can be transmitted through tiny droplets and particles that hang in the air for extended periods, especially in poorly ventilated indoor spaces.

If you do choose to dine in one of the bubbles, your level of risk largely depends on who you’re dining with and the safety measures you all take. There are things you and your table can to do reduce your risk, such as making sure there is airflow within the space, by keeping one side of the tent open, for instance, practicing good hand hygiene and wearing your mask when you aren’t eating or drinking. These measures will also help protect your servers.

—Allyson Chiu, Washington Post reporter