With restaurants open again, maintaining distance between patrons key to preventing virus spread

County health officials conducted contact tracing back in March to alert everyone who was within 6 feet of "patient zero" for more than 10 minutes. WRAL Investigates repeatedly asked officials for the results of their contact tracing, but they said that wasn’t available.

WRAL Investigates did find a contact tracing study from a restaurant in China, where the first coronavirus cases were reported late last year.

In that study, an infected man was seated in the middle table of a row of three. The air conditioner was blowing directly across all three tables. Four of the eight people at his table were infected. Three of the four people at the table downwind also got coronavirus, as did two of the seven people upwind. No customers at tables on the other side of the aisle were infected.

The tables in that study were approximately 3 feet apart, based on the size of the dining room. Rules in place in North Carolina require that tables be at least 6 feet apart, and restaurants are limited to no more than 50 percent of their maximum occupancy allowed under fire codes.

Ashley Royster, co-owner of Ruckus Pizza in Cary, said she plans to go further, staggering seating so that every other table will be open.

"We’re trying to do everything we can to make sure you guys are safe and that we’re safe," Royster said. "Fifty percent [capacity], as a restaurant owner, is not ideal for me, but I want our customers to know that we’re here for them. We’re going to do things the right way."

Ruckus' outside patio will help with social distancing, she said

"This is the new normal for all of us," she said. "I’m cautiously optimistic about opening."

All employees will have their temperatures checked before starting work, and they will be wearing masks and gloves. They also have taken an online safety certification class.

"I don’t think anybody wants to be under the impression that their restaurant or their employees spread this disease, so we’re taking every precaution that we can," Royster said.

Still, she said, customers need to be patient and understanding about the changes, and they also need to do their part to make others feel comfortable.

"If they choose to come out to the restaurant, they have a personal responsibility to make sure they’re keeping the people around them safe," she said.