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Waiters and bartenders are laid off – yet again – as governors and local officials shut down indoor food and beverage establishments to tackle the nationwide outbreak of coronavirus infections that is plaguing hospitals and dashing hopes rapid economic recovery.
And the timing, right before the holidays, couldn’t be worse.
Restaurant owner Greg Morena of Los Angeles County was trying to determine his next step after officials in the nation’s largest county banned in-person dining for at least three weeks, starting Wednesday. But he was especially afraid of having to warn his employees.
“To say to you, ‘I can’t employ you during the holidays’, to staff who have family and children, I haven’t understood that part yet. It’s the heaviest weight I carry, ”said Morena, who had to close a restaurant earlier in the year and has two at the Santa Monica Pier.
Randine Karnitz, a waiter from Elk River, Minnesota, said her boss fired her last week after Gov. Tim Walz announced bars, restaurants and gyms would close for four weeks as infections soared. record and pushed hospitals to breaking point.
“’Well, your last day is tomorrow. You don’t have a job. You can thank your governor for that, ”Karnitz told him.
She said her husband’s working hours were also cut back in his manufacturing job, forcing the family to postpone repairs to the house.
Karnitz, however, said she supports a shutdown and people who don’t take the virus seriously carry a lot of it.
“I just think if we had all done our part to get started, we wouldn’t be in this predicament,” she said. “Things will only get worse for the service industry before they get better, unfortunately.”
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said on Tuesday he was limiting the number of customers at restaurants, gyms, lounges, casinos, malls and other non-essential businesses to 50 percent of their capacity while the state was seeing a third peak in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Most bars will be limited to take out, delivery, and outside seating.
Restaurant owners – most of whom have experienced spring and summer closures – are finding the new round of closures difficult as the colder weather sets in. Many offer curbside pickup, but also try to organize meals outside, even if that means installing shelters or heaters.
But in Los Angeles County, restaurants and bars are prohibited from providing alfresco dining starting Wednesday. They will be limited to take-out and delivery.
Some challenge arrest orders in court, with little success.
On Tuesday, a judge rejected a request by a restaurant industry group to block the ban on outdoor dining in Los Angeles County. A day earlier, a California judge refused to temporarily restore indoor service to restaurants and gyms in San Diego County that have been forced to move operations outside, saying there is scientific evidence to l support for Governor Gavin Newsom’s public health orders.
A federal judge last week refused to end a three-week ban on indoor eating in Michigan after an industry association complained that restaurants were being treated unfairly. The judge noted that restaurants are different from other businesses in that their customers must remove their masks to eat or drink.
The United States has seen more than 12.5 million confirmed infections and more than 259,000 deaths from the coronavirus. Nearly 86,000 people – a record high – were hospitalized in the United States with COVID-19 on Monday.
The infections have led to a shortage of hospital beds and healthcare workers, and they threaten surgeries and other care unrelated to COVID-19.
On average, the United States registers more than 172,000 new cases per day. It averages over 1,500 deaths a day – the highest level since May.
Los Angeles County restaurant owners say infections are more likely to come from private gatherings where rules for masks and spaced seats are not in effect.
“The same people desperate to go to bars are going to party in their homes,” said Brittney Valles, owner of Guerrilla Tacos in Los Angeles. “You will never see them until they spread the coronavirus willy-nilly. It’s crazy.”
Valles said she broke down on Saturday realizing this might be the last time – at least for a while – that she would see some of her employees. This will be the third time she’s due to lay off employees and she was working on Monday to develop a plan to keep as many employees as possible.
She has already opened a cafe that offers burritos for breakfast. She plans to extend those hours, continue to operate the lunch-to-go taco business, and open a burger at night that would deliver meals and offer take-out food.
Some restaurateurs have been provocative. Colorado Governor Jared Polis on Tuesday warned restaurants could lose their licenses if they violate closure orders after several Larimer County businesses signed a letter saying they would continue to operate at full capacity interior.
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Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan; Peters of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Melley from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Patty Nieberg in Denver; and Juliet Williams in Los Angeles contributed to this story.
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