7 tech tips for outdoor dining safely in the remaining months of the pandemic

• Outdoor dining can have an extra layer of safety from standard COVID precautions with the assistance of several tech tools.
• COVID exposure notifications, social distancing apps, and Google Maps can help keep you stick more closely to CDC guidelines about personal and social activities.
• Restaurant apps like CareFull, QR codes, and contactless payment can help you stay alert and abiding by social distance guidelines.
• Regardless of what tech you use, you should always follow established COVID-19 safety precautions when outdoor dining.
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As your list of vaccinated acquaintances grows, so, too, may the urge to eat with them.

Of course, outdoor dining has been an option for some during the pandemic, and it still is. But with warm weather around the corner and loosening COVID-19 restrictions, opportunities for al fresco dining might be more frequent and tempting. That's why staying safe if you choose to dine outdoors (or order for pickup) is more important than ever.

Research published by the CDC has shown that opening restaurants to on-premises dining, including outdoor spaces, was linked to increased COVID-19 rates in the months following. Another investigation of 11 US healthcare facilities in 2020 found that COVID-19 positive adults were twice as likely as those who tested negative to have eaten at a restaurant in the two weeks before their illness cropped up.

Still, there are ways to stay safer when choosing outdoor dining.

Outdoor dining safety tips

Not dining out is the safest option of all, and sure enough, the CDC recommends avoiding events and gatherings altogether. But they also break down the safety of dining scenarios by varying degrees of risk.

Drive-thru, takeout, and delivery options are considered the lowest risk, while the highest risk goes to indoor dining on-premises with seating spaced less than six feet apart. Eating outdoors with tables spaced apart six feet falls somewhere in the middle.

While having food delivered to your home is safer than ordering for pickup or outdoor dining, if you opt to do outdoor dining or curbside pickup from a restaurant, here are some additional tools to help you stay safe.

Get COVID exposure notifications when outdoor dining

Several states have opted into partnerships with Apple and Google's technology for COVID-19 contact tracing. Health authorities that use this application programming interface (API) have made their own Android apps, which you can find in the Google Play Store, if available in your area. Apple users have a more streamlined system thanks to the built-in COVID exposure notification tool for iOS devices.

If you download the app for your area or enable notifications on your iOS device, you must opt-in to the notification system. Once that's done, your phone and the phones of others who have opted-in to the service communicate through Bluetooth using random, frequently changing IDs. The app continuously checks its list of IDs against the random IDs associated with positive COVID-19 cases.

When someone with an ID linked to a positive COVID-19 test is in your immediate area, you'll be notified of your exposure with further guidance on how to stay safe. This is useful for knowing if you were exposed to someone with COVID-19 before making plans to eat out, as well as being alerted if you come into contact with someone during an outing.

Use social distance apps when waiting in a line for pickup or outdoor dining

From the beginning of the pandemic, health authorities and experts have maintained that individuals not from the same household should remain six feet apart at all times. But what is six feet, anyway?

A handful of Android and iOS apps aim to help make that clearer, so while you're waiting in line or even dining at a table, you know whether you're keeping a safe distance - and others are keeping a safe distance from you. One such app for iOS users is Social Distance Training. Designed for students and teachers, this app can give a clearer picture of your proximity to someone, using a holographic person to create a virtual distance simulation. It won't tell you in real-time how close you are to someone, but it does offer a sense of how far away six feet feels for when you are standing in a restaurant's pickup line.

Android users may prefer to use Sodar by Google, which relies on WebXR on Chrome and your smartphone's camera. Available only through Chrome on Android devices, this augmented reality tool creates a two-meter radius ring around you - using the recommended distance of at least six feet - to help you follow social distancing guidelines. Just go to the Sodar by Google website, use your phone to scan the QR code, and you're ready to head out.

Find parks using Google Maps "Explore" to switch up your outdoor dining location

For those inclined to take "outdoor dining" literally, Google Maps is good for so many things - including finding a park to eat in safely once that pickup order is paid for.

If you're in an unfamiliar place, Google Maps "Explore" feature can locate general categories of places nearby like "gas stations," "post offices," and yes, even "parks." You can use it on the desktop site, or Android and iOS apps.

This feature isn't available everywhere, but it can be a quick way to get out of a crowd for a quiet and socially distanced meal surrounded by nature. Here's how to use it.

Use delivery apps and apps like CareFull

If you're lucky enough to live in the Greater Boston or NYC area, the newer CareFull app - available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store - can help. Designed with COVID-safe eateries (and diners) in mind, CareFull lets you search for local establishments, see what safety precautions they're taking, and read and leave safety reviews for any given restaurant. The user-friendly layout makes it easy to select a restaurant based on safety.

If you don't live in either of those two areas, consider ordering pick-up with a restaurant-friendly service like ChowNow. This platform doesn't receive a commission on orders like other popular delivery apps, meaning more of your money goes directly to the local establishments you're ordering from.

New Yorkers also have Spread, a newer commission-free food delivery service that saves for customers and restaurants. The app sends you texts with exclusive promotions from takeout and delivery restaurants in your neighborhood. You can then enter those promotions on the restaurant's site - cutting out the extra service fees that come with delivery app alternatives.

Use QR codes to order while outdoor dining

Many might already be familiar with this kind of barcode, which a smartphone can scan for many purposes. Restaurants have put them into action on outdoor tables or in storefront windows for would-be diners to read menus - no contact with a physical menu passed through other's hands needed. Some restaurants even allow for ordering right from the menu.

Newer models of Android and iPhone have QR scanners built into their camera apps. Here's how to use it.

Choose contactless payment options while outdoor dining

QR codes are handy, and contactless payment options with them are even handier. Some restaurants allow ordering and payment straight from the menu you've pulled up on your phone.

That includes credit cards like Apple Card or online payment systems like PayPal or Google Pay. Contactless payment minimizes the surfaces touched by a server handling a credit card or cash, keeping both parties safer. It's also a precaution, like several of those listed, that you can verify ahead of time with a quick phone call.

Use UV light sanitizers to keep your outdoor dining flatware clean and avoid using plastics

If you want to cover all your bases in reducing risk while dining at a restaurant, you can take sanitization to the next level with a UV light sanitizer. It's perfect for small items - cards, keys, sunglasses, even silverware - while you eat.

Enclosed, battery-operated UV light boxes meant for phones are generally the most effective and safe, with UV wands being less so.