For the first time in three months, the Coronavirus is no longer front and center amid recent events surrounding Black Lives Matter protests. In some ways, it has given Americans “permission” to focus on urgent matters beyond the virus. Younger generations and households with kids are really feeling the fatigue, as some relax COVID precautions and take on more risk to get back out and reclaim their lives. More than others, they are partaking in non-essentials, socializing in larger groups and heading back to restaurant dining rooms. Restaurants will need to keep COVID precautions in place to ensure consumers feel comfortable, relaxed and safe returning to dining in.

While Americans aren’t prepared to completely unplug from COVID news, they are ready to expand their focus to other important topics. Without the need to focus on COVID 24/7, restaurants should strive for the “right balance” of showing diners what they need to feel safe, while still enabling the mental escape they look to from dining out.

With warmer weather and non-essential businesses reopening, people are ready to return to some normalcy. Nearly a quarter of consumers have gone back to restaurant dining rooms. While Americans want to keep apprised of issues beyond COVID, they are not ready to completely shift away. Businesses reopening and massive protests have only served to increase COVID concern, fueled by fears that people are becoming too lax with safety precautions. At the same time, half of Americans are not following COVID as closely and are interested in news beyond the pandemic. It’s important for restaurants to continue enforcing COVID precautionary measures to ensure that guests and staff feel safe.

In this report, you’ll find data and insights, as well as recommendations around how you can make consumers feel safe at your restaurant. Key takeaways from this report are as follows:

  • 43% of consumers keep COVID news front and center
  • 37% of consumers only want COVID coverage for major events
  • 21% of consumers are sick of COVID news and want to move on
  • 75% of consumers say that COVID has changed how they look at behaving in public forever
  • 68% say they hope the media continues to focus on COVID because it’s still a serious situation
  • 64% say seeing others more relaxed about safety precautions makes them feel less safe
  • 45% are just as careful now about COVID-19 in comparison to when the pandemic began
  • 42% of consumers are more careful now in comparison to when the pandemic began

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