Restaurant Health Inspections In Virginia Remain Largely Virtual

VIRGINIA — The Virginia Department of Health is continuing to rely largely on virtual visits to restaurants to conduct health inspections.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, restaurant inspectors poked through kitchens to look for vermin, unclean surfaces and spoiled food. But for much of the past 11 months, the VDH has relied largely on virtual visits to restaurants to conduct health inspections due to the sustained high transmission rates of the coronavirus across the state.

Local health districts are using in-person visits only for a limited number of restaurant inspections. The districts want to protect their employees and restaurant workers by conducting the virtual health inspections when possible.

According to the VDH, virtual inspections are being used for restaurant pre-openings, permit renewals, follow-up visits, and inspections in response to complaints.

The virtual inspections are conducted using FaceTime or another video conferencing application. The inspector will ask the restaurant manager questions about their employees' health practices and whether they conduct COVID-19 checks when the workers come on duty.

The restaurant manager will then use the camera to show the inspector areas of the kitchen, including the handwashing station, food contact surfaces, dishwasher and refrigeration units. The inspector will often ask the manager to check the water temperature in the handwashing sink using a thermometer to make sure it is high enough to kill germs.

Along with protecting health department and restaurant employees, virtual inspections are being used because most VDH and local health district employees have shifted to coronavirus-related work, according to the health department.

“Throughout the pandemic, Virginia has placed emphasis on conducting inspections through virtual means whenever possible, to decrease the risk of exposure for restaurant and VDH staff,” Olivia K. McCormick, acting division director of VDH’s Food and General Environmental Services, said in a statement to Patch.

In inspection notices posted on health department websites, the records will indicate whether the inspection was conducted virtually. In many notices, the inspector writes that the inspection of a food establishment was conducted virtually via FaceTime.

Given the virtual nature of the inspection, listed violations in a notice may not be an all-encompassing rundown of all the violations at a particular establishment.

Staff also are using an Enhanced Food Safety Assessment Tool, designed to be implemented in a phone conversation, to check in with restaurants and food establishments about food safety practices, McCormick said.

Last week, an inspector with the Rappahannock Area Health District, for example, spoke by telephone with a Domino’s Pizza in Fredericksburg. The telephone inspection was “conducted to discuss the level of service and sanitation being conducted in the facility to ensure they are complying with the Governor of Virginia's Phase Three Requirements,” the Feb. 1 report said.

When in-person inspections are needed, the inspector will conduct a risk factor assessment, focusing on the areas of restaurant operation that pose the greatest risk for foodborne illness, rather than a full inspection, in order to limit time and potential exposure in the facility.

“Overall, many Virginia Department of Health staff are assuming additional and new duties related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” McCormick said. “In some cases, this has led to a decrease in activities in other programs, or a redesign of program activities to focus limited resources where risk is greatest.”

COVID-19 Regulations

Under current guidelines in Virginia, restaurants are allowed to serve customers indoors as long as all parties are separated by at least six feet, including in the bar area. Employees are required to wear face coverings over their nose and mouth. Customers also must wear face coverings over their nose and mouth, except while eating and drinking.

To help food establishments conduct business safely after Gov. Ralph Northam issued an executive order last March placing temporary restrictions on restaurants, the VDH's Office of Environmental Health Services created the “Training Inspections During COVID-19 Response” protocol, which local health districts used to conduct training inspections over the phone or by video.

The protocol included questions about food service options, employee health, actions taken to limit exposure among employees and between employees and the public, hygiene protocols and disinfection procedures.

VDH staff also are tasked with responding to complaints about restaurants or their customers not following COVID-19 restrictions. Some Virginia businesses, including restaurants, have had their permits suspended due largely to a lack of social distancing and facial coverings.

Health district staff members typically handle complaints about noncompliance with COVID-19 restrictions by telephone. But VDH employees may visit the business in person if the establishment resists complying with COVID-19 regulations.

A Spotsylvania County restaurant owner refused to close after his license was suspended by the local health district due to repeated COVID-19 violations, according to a WSET-TV report.

The Rappahannock Area Health District said since Dec. 13, 2020, it has received more than 80 complaints about the restaurant, Gourmeltz, related to state requirements, including reports of employees who were not wearing masks, customers sitting at the bar, and the restaurant not following required social distancing guidelines.

During an in-person inspection, Gourmeltz's owner, Matt Strickland, said he did not intend to comply with the regulations. Due to the numerous complaints, observations during a Jan. 15 inspection and Strickland's statements that he is unwilling to comply with regulations in Northam's Executive Order 72, RAHD suspended Gourmeltz's permit to operate a food establishment.

The restaurant remains defiant. "To the Governor, health department, and OSHA: If you're actually interested in what we as Americans want instead of trying to rule by force, come on by Gourmeltz and look at all the happy smiling faces," the restaurant recently posted on its Facebook page.

If the restaurant complies with the governor's Exeuctive Order 72, the suspension can be lifted, RAHD said.

"At this point in time, the restaurant is continuing to operate without its permit to serve food, and RAHD is working closely with other state agencies to determine next steps," RAHD spokeswoman Allison Balmes-John said in an email to Patch. "EO72 provides multiple tools for enforcement, including fines and the ability to file an injunction or to seek a class I misdemeanor."

This is the first restaurant whose permit RAHD has suspended due to violations of the state's COVID-19 regulations, Balmes-John said.