Dining with people you do not usually see could increase the risk of infection with the coronavirus by up to 1.5 times compared to dining with four or fewer of your closest colleagues, according to a University of Tsukuba research team.
Led by Setsuya Kurahashi, a professor of artificial intelligence at the university, the team analyzed pandemic data for July and August to determine whether shortening the business hours of restaurants would have an effect on curbing the spread of the virus.
Using a hypothetical model of a city with a population of about 10,000 mostly working-age and young people, the spread of infections was analyzed based on such factors as the percentage of people going to restaurants and the infection rate. The model city had five companies, and it was assumed that several people were infected.
The risk of infection was calculated for each group of diners, including groups of up to eight people from different companies and groups of up to four colleagues from the same department.
The results showed that groups comprising people from different companies were more likely to have had contact with people with the virus and were 1.5 times more likely to be infected than people in groups of up to four people from the same department dining at a restaurant with shorter business hours.
Groups comprising employees from different companies represent cases in which people dine with those they do not usually have contact with, while coworker groups represent cases in which people dine with those they have contact with on a daily basis, according to Prof. Kurahashi.
As there have been many cases of virus transmission among diners, the government's subcommittee on coronavirus countermeasures has advised people to dine with only family members or people they see on a daily basis, in groups of four people or fewer.
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