As we plow ahead in the COVID-19 era with inventiveness on the brain, it's somewhat hard to believe we're only just now seeing the use of social distancing tubes for public dining purposes.
Over the weekend, footage started making the rounds that shows the Fish Tales restaurant and bar in Ocean City, Maryland having its employees test out the new contraptions, which—as you can see for yourself below—do indeed consist of giant wearable tubes that basically force you to keep your virus-battling distance from fellow patrons:
Per the New York Post, Fish Tales (like many restaurants around the nation) is currently still only open for takeout service. However, the restaurant is aiming to have the bumper tables ready to use "whenever we are allowed to serve." A separate report from a regional CBS outlet notes that the idea was "chartered by" the Revolution Event Design and Production company, based in Baltimore.
In a statement, Revolution co-owner Erin Cermak said the idea came about while trying to figure out the safest way for people to be social and move around in a dining atmosphere while still maintaining social distancing guidelines. "You get in the middle of them and you're just happy," Cermak said, adding that they've also been in talks with other businesses about putting them to good use.
The most recent update from the CDC shows that there are 1.5 million confirmed cases of the virus in the U.S. and 88,709 deaths. In recent weeks, several states have started easing into relaxed social distancing practices, albeit with pushback from health officials.
