Bangor Restaurant Debuts Heated ‘Dining Domes’

As colder months settle in, Maine restaurants are getting creative in serving customers amid COVID restrictions.

"Dining Domes" are proving to be a popular way in which restaurants can serve customers outside in colder months. Timber Kitchen & Bar in Bangor has unveiled cozy heated domes, decked out in buffalo plaid. The restaurant says they have four domes, which can seat up to seven people.

According to the Washington Post, with proper safety measures in place, dining domes can make eating at a restaurant "relatively low-risk" in contracting or spreading COVID-19.

On Sunday, Gov. Janet Mills announced that Maine will delay the reopening of bars and tasting rooms. Reinstated safety guidelines also increases the restrictions on indoor gatherings, effective Nov. 4. The move comes after Maine saw a large uptick in new COVID-19 cases last week.

According to the Maine CDC, on Monday the state recorded 84 new COVID cases, and one death. 28 people are currently hospitalized. Last Friday, the sate saw 103 new cases, the highest single-day increase in Maine since the beginning of the pandemic.

Dr. Nirav Shah, head of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, says the spike in cases throughout the state is evidence of widespread community transmission.