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food & drink

Unfair treatment

The number of restaurants that have gone out of business runs into thousands in many countries, so has the trade been discriminated against unjustly during the pandemic?

ANDREW J. LINN

Friday, 12 March 2021, 19:36

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We have to sympathise with bar and restaurant owners. They have had their backs to the wall for the last year, and the only solution to this pandemic confusion appears to be via mass vaccination. The number of restaurants that have gone out of business runs into thousands in many countries, so has the trade been discriminated against unjustly?

When the German government permitted 80,000 hair salons to re-open this month, the reason given was that the preservation of human dignity, as defined by the country's constitution, was a priority. So why are not bars and restaurants granted the same privileges? Do not they also play their part in the defense of personal self-esteem? While there has never been much reliable data on the extent of contagion that can be passed on in such places, supporters of their continued closure cite good reasons why they may be hotspots. Because people may be drinking in quantity, they need to go to the toilets frequently, and consequently spread germs over large areas.

But does the act of drinking increase the likelihood of becoming infected? The World Health Organisation implies that alcohol weakens the immune system, while scientific data points the other way. Dr Nicolai Worm, lecturer and professor of nutrition at the German University of Prevention and Health Care Management, has declared that "light to moderate drinkers have a lower risk of all-cause mortality than abstainers", though admitting heavy drinkers are at high risk. And anecdotally it has frequently been maintained that keeping the mouth and throat moist with alcohol is a defence against infection.

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