Introduction
If you’re looking for the worst place you could go right now, according to virus experts, then look no further than Eat This Not That. This website is a one-stop shop for all the worst places to eat, as well as the worst food choices you can make. From fast food to sit-down restaurants, Eat This Not That has compiled a comprehensive list of the worst places to eat in the United States. Not only are these places unhealthy, but they are also potential hot spots for the spread of the virus. So if you’re looking for the worst place to go right now, then Eat This Not That is the place to go.
The #1 Worst Place You Could Go Right Now, Say Virus Experts — Eat This Not That
As the world continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus pandemic, experts are warning that there is one place you should avoid at all costs: restaurants. With the virus still spreading, the risk of contracting it in a restaurant is simply too great.
“The risk of contracting the virus in a restaurant is much higher than in other places,” says Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “The virus can spread quickly in a restaurant setting, as people are in close proximity to one another and may not be wearing masks.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued guidelines for restaurants, including social distancing, wearing masks, and frequent handwashing. But even with these precautions, the risk of contracting the virus in a restaurant is still high.
So what should you do instead? Experts recommend avoiding restaurants altogether and opting for takeout or delivery instead. This way, you can still enjoy your favorite foods without putting yourself at risk.
“Takeout and delivery are much safer options than dining in a restaurant,” says Dr. Fauci. “You can still enjoy your favorite foods without putting yourself at risk.”
So if you’re looking for a safe way to enjoy your favorite foods, experts recommend avoiding restaurants and opting for takeout or delivery instead. It’s the best way to stay safe and still enjoy your favorite meals.
Planning some overseas travel this summer? Not so fast. While COVID-19 cases in the U.S are dropping, BA.2 is still causing a huge amount of trouble in parts of the world. “Traveling certainly entails risk, but you can reduce that risk by making sure you are vaccinated and boosted,” says CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. “Wearing a mask in crowded indoor settings further reduces risk. In the United States, follow the CDC guidance and make sure to wear a mask in areas that have high Covid-19 community levels. If you are planning international travel, know the rules, including whether you have to have proof of vaccination or a recent negative test.” Here are the five worst places with COVID-19 to visit right now, according to virus experts. Read on—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
Germany is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases that is causing concern to virus experts in Europe. “We all hoped and expected a different turn now at the beginning of spring,” says Ralf Reintjes, professor of epidemiology at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. “But the situation in Europe is a bit bumpy at the moment, and in Germany … the [case] numbers are at a very, very high level, and they’re still increasing and have been increasing for quite some time.”
Australia’s BA.2 cases are also surging, virus experts warn. “People infected with COVID-19 have been infecting a greater number of people,” says epidemiologist Nancy Baxter, head of the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne. “In the past when the outbreak was shrinking one person was transmitting it to less than one person on average. Now it’s definitely above one. In many states it’s gone to 1.2, which means that the outbreak is gaining momentum now. In NSW a month ago, we had cases per day as low as 5,000. Today, we have around 24,000. So there’s clearly something different happening. We’re starting to see hospital numbers and ICU numbers go up, and we know that those metrics trail the rise in cases. So we’d expect hospitalisations to be trending upwards as well and will continue to do so until after the peak is reached.”
Mainland China is currently battling its worst outbreak of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started, largely driven by the BA.2 subvariant. “Omicron BA.2 caused this outbreak, and spreads faster and more easily than previous viruses,” the province of Fujian said in an online statement.
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New Zealand is currently dealing with a new strain of Omicron called XE, a combination of the BA.1 and BA.2 variants. “It’s basically a recombinant that was first found in the UK mid-January and it contains genetic material from both BA1 and BA2, which are the two most common subvariants of Omicron,” says evolutionary virologist Jemma Geoghegan. “We don’t actually know yet many of the characteristics and many of them will just die out and not go anywhere. XE is definitely one to watch. If it does increase in frequency and in prevalence in the population, and then if there’s a difference between hospitalized cases, then that’s something we can [observe] to better understand the severity. This requires robust genomic surveillance worldwide to track this. The WHO is urging countries to do genomic surveillance in a widespread fashion.”
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The new XE subvariant has been detected in the U.K., so you might want to put those travel plans to visit Buckingham Palace on hold for now. “This particular recombinant, XE, has shown a variable growth rate and we cannot yet confirm whether it has a true growth advantage. So far there is not enough evidence to draw conclusions about transmissibility, severity or vaccine effectiveness,” says UKHSA’s chief medical advisor professor Susan Hopkins.
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Follow the public health fundamentals and help end this pandemic, no matter where you live—get vaccinated or boosted ASAP; if you live in an area with low vaccination rates, wear an N95 face mask, don’t travel, social distance, avoid large crowds, don’t go indoors with people you’re not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don’t visit any of these 35 Places You’re Most Likely to Catch COVID.