If a state or local government determines that it needs to prohibit dine-in service for restaurants, it should allow restaurants to offer takeout (pickup), drive-thru, and (possibly) delivery – though the latter is not without further risk.

These operations involve minimal interactions between people (less person-to-person contact than someone going to a grocery store, or connecting with a delivery driver, who may have had contact with multiple people).

Grocery stores are currently experiencing product shortages and significant crowds. Restaurants have significant perishable food inventory that can help feed our communities and alleviate crowding at grocery stores.

A regulation that completely halts restaurant operations will result in significant food waste that could be used to feed our communities, and denies those restaurants much needed revenue.

"Restaurants need a government lifeline during this crisis that will allow employees and owners to weather the storm, and be ready to spring back into action quickly. Our communities need restaurants in a position to stimulate our local economies, help our employees get back to work, and generate tax revenue when this crisis subsides,” Mike Whatley, Vice President, State and Local Affairs.

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