On Thursday, Mike Somers, the president of the New Hampshire Restaurant and Lodging Association recommended reopening the food and hotel industry in four stages, starting with outdoor dining as the weather warms up.

Somers, who was the first industry representative to address the Governor’s Economic Re-Opening Task Force, said he’d love to see phase 1 as early as May 5, the day after the state’s stay-at-home order is set to expire.

“As we get into warm weather here, I think if we don’t start to give customers and consumers some things to do, whether it’s dining outdoors, visiting retail, whatever it might be, we’re gonna lose control of this,” he said.

However, Gov. Chris Sununu has said the stay-at-home order likely will be extended beyond May 4 to prevent the continued spread of the coronavirus.

As of Thursday, more than 1,600 people in New Hampshire had tested positive for the virus and 51 had died. Thirty of the deaths have been associated with institutional outbreaks.

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

The plan Somers outlined included a heavy emphasis on screening workers for illness, sanitation and social distancing. He suggested restaurants could add outdoor picnic tables initially, and then gradually resume regular indoor dining. At-risk populations would be encouraged to remain home for the first two, maybe three, phases, he said.

While this would be great for restarting the Granite State’s economy, in practice it likely is too soon to even think of allowing outdoor dining, especially since we are seeing more than two dozen new cases, on average, per day in the Granite State.

The last thing that should be done is to jump the gun and put people at risk of contracting the disease. Slow and steady is the best approach.

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