Dining out in China has drastically changed since lockdown restrictions have lifted, and it offers a glimpse into what lies ahead for US restaurants

Masked servers and diners have become the norm in Asia. In Hong Kong, customers are required to wear a mask in a restaurant when they are not eating or drinking. In some parts of the US, which are lifting lockdown restrictions, masks are mandatory for restaurant workers. The National Restaurant Association, which represents over 380,000 restaurants in the US, published a set of guidelines in April to give restaurants guidance about reopening and recommended that masks be worn even if they are not mandated by local governments. Rigorous hygiene routines will be vital in encouraging customers to come back into restaurants. Guests are very sensitive to hygiene, and anything that even looks messy will translate to unclean in their minds, so everyone's uniforms, hair, nails, any surfaces guests can see, it all needs to be tidy and spotless, now more than ever, Black Sheep Restaurants wrote in its guidelines.Black Sheep Restaurants cofounder Syed Asim Hussain said that employees are required to wash their hands and sanitize the tables used by customers every 30 minutes; every 10 days, they also do a deep clean.Under Hong Kong regulation, restaurants are also required to make hand sanitizer available to both guests and workers. It's highly likely that this could become the norm in the US too. Experts also say we could see similar measures rolled out to retail stores with pop-up hand sanitizer stations becoming more prevalent in the US.Acrylic barriers have been a fixture at some restaurants in Asia from the start of the pandemic and continue to be.These screens are becoming more prevalent at registers in grocery stores in the US and could catch on in restaurants also as they start to reopen. Hong Kong restaurant group Black Sheep, which owns a string of popular restaurants in the city, recently released a set of guidelines advising its 1,000 person team on how to deal with the pandemic. These guidelines have been published publically for other restaurants to use too. As part of these, the restaurant chain has made it mandatory for any customers to sign a health declaration form before they are able to dine. In this form, they are asked to confirm that they haven't tested positive from the virus in the past 14 days, experienced any symptoms in that time, been in direct contact with anyone who is known to be carrying the virus, or have traveled outside of Hong Kong. It also asks them to leave their contact details so if there's a confirmed case in the restaurant, the owners are able to inform anyone who has visited during that time. If guests decline to complete the form do not be afraid to turn them away, the company wrote, adding that they turned away more than 50 people in one night. They may be upset in the moment, but it is absolutely the right thing to do to protect your team and your guests. It feels uncomfortable because we are in the business of hospitality but we have to understand the reality of the new world we exist in, it said. In China, the government is using software, run on Alipay and WeChat's platforms, to track people's movements and prevent the spread of coronavirus.Anyone that wants to travel around is required to fill out a health survey on the app, which depending on their health status and travel history, will then generate a color code – Green, Yellow, or Red. These codes dictate whether a person can travel freely, should stay at home and isolate, or is required to stay in quarantine.And increasingly, malls, cafes, and restaurants in China are requiring customers to show their codes on the app before they are able to enter these areas. In Hong Kong, temperature checks for both workers and customers are mandatory on arrival and at the point of leaving the restaurant. Temperature checks are already becoming more common in the US as restaurants reopen but haven't been mandated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hong Kong restauranteurs are also required to keep a 1.5-meter space or more between each table to minimize crowding. It's likely that similar restrictions would come to the US, building on from social distancing markers that are currently being used in stores to keep shoppers at a safe distance. Limits on restaurant capacity are likely to become commonplace as more eateries open up again in the US. In Hong Kong, restaurants are required by the government order to keep the capacity below 50% and restrict groups to four people only, for example. Restaurant owners who don't play by the rules risk being fined as much HK$50,000 ($6,450) or face six months in jail.

Dining out in China has drastically changed since lockdown restrictions have lifted, and it offers a glimpse into what lies ahead for US restaurants

Masks become the norm

Hand sanitizer on tap

Perspex barriers between diners

Diners are asked to confirm that they haven't been infected with the virus in the past 14 days

Contact tracing

Temperature checks on arrival

Permanent social distancing measures

Caps on restaurant capacity and limits to group sizes