The bowling alley used by a New York man the night before he was diagnosed with Ebola will reopen Friday, according to the New York Times.
Williamsburg bowling alley The Gutter, shut down on Thursday as a "precautionary measure" while it worked with the New York Health Department to have the bar cleaned and sanitized, it said on its Facebook page.
Although bowling alleys where people rent shoes and share balls are notorious incubators of germs, it's extremely unlikely that you can get Ebola from a bowling ball. "There is no evidence that it has been passed, as colds or flu sometimes are, by touching surfaces that someone else touched after sneezing into their hand," says a separate article in The New York Times.
Still, closing its business down for cleaning was probably a smart move for the bowling alley. "They’re losing some money obviously by being closed, but what they gain in peace of mind and goodwill I think is worth a lot to them," said Lynda Maddox, a marketing and advertising professor at George Washington University. Maddox noted that this is the first time Americans are dealing with ebola on their soil and there's currently a lot of skepticism with regards to how the CDC is handling the virus. A little extra care is going to be well-perceived.
Craig Spencer, the 33-year-old doctor who contracted New York's first case of Ebola, told authorities that he had gone bowling at The Gutter on Wednesday night before taking an Uber back to his apartment in Manhattan.
Uber said on Thursday that the car and driver involved were not a risk for ebola.
The following morning, Spencer felt feverish and was diagnosed at Bellevue Hospital.
The Gutter said it had been told by doctors advising the New York Health Department that there was no risk to its staff or to any customers. The New York Health Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Huffington Post.
While there have been some reports saying Spencer also "caught some music" at The Brooklyn Bowl, a larger bowling and concert venue nearby, Brooklyn Bowl said on its Twitter page that Spencer did not go there.
The musician Questlove, who plays a regular show at Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday nights, said Thursday that the venue was safe to hang out at: