HOW WILL NEW CLOSURES IMPACT BUTTE, GLENN COUNTIES?
Business owners, health officials weigh in
CHICO » The COVID-19 pandemic has forced nearly all sectors of businesses to adapt to uncertain times, often changing by the week.
In March, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide shelterin-place order that prompted many businesses to close their doors. Much of those restrictions were then rolled back in parts of May and June.
Yet as positive cases show no sign of slowing down in California, Newsom announced in his latest press briefing Monday that indoor dining, bars, movie theaters, zoos and museums are ordered to close in all counties across the state.
This includes Butte County, where 38 new cases reported over the weekend and Monday brought the total to 376, including 109 active cases. The modifications added further restrictions for 30 counties on Newsom’s watch list for worsening virus trends. In neighboring Glenn County, which was placed on the list two weeks ago, gyms, hair salons, places of worship and non-essential office spaces are now ordered to close.
“We’re moving back into a modification mode of our original stay-at-home order, but doing so utilizing a dimmer switch, not an off-on switch,” Newsom said in the press conference.
Chico restaurants
Restaurants that returned to indoor dining, in addition to patio and takeout/delivery services will now have to adapt again.
Shelly Blanshei, owner of Tea Bar and Fusion Cafe, which has two locations in Chico, began shifting focus on Monday to how the businesses will operate with the new modifications and possibly even more to be announced in the future.
“What today tells me is, these are uncertain times. We have to be able to be adaptable, we have to be proactive and prepare for what could come next,” Blanshei said. “What I’m thinking already is, how are we going to pivot to no more patio (service), and what is that going to look like? … I want to prepare for that. I think that’s the best way to be because you don’t want to just sit back and wait for it to happen. You plan for it to happen, and then you’re ready when it happens.”
Blanshei said its location on Vallombrosa Avenue has reopened its indoor space with limited seating, but many people still opt to sit outside. Additionally, Tea Bar and Fusion Cafe now offers everything in togo containers.
“It’s really not going to impact us too much because what we’ve come to find over the last few weeks is, a lot of people prefer to sit outside than they do inside,” Blanshei said.
“What will impact our business … but not dramatically, is if we go to the next level of having to close down our patio seating.”
Oroville restaurants
The Patio was open and serving customers on Monday when Governor Newsom announced that bars across the state must close and that restaurants in all counties must close indoor dining. While The Patio does have outdoor seating, Brett Glancy, bar manager, said the restaurant’s managers and owner would be meeting Tuesday to determine how the facility will be adjusting its business practices during this second, partial shut-down.
During the first shut down of bars, Allen Schufeldt, owner of The Keg Room, said he was able to carrying his eight employees on payroll for quite a while but said they will have to apply for unemployment during this new round of closures.
“Having to close again is devastating but we have to do whatever they say,” said Schufeldt.
Between its Oroville and Chico locations Tong Fong Low employs about 30 people most of who will have to apply for unemployment again with the new mandated closure of indoor dining.
“The human factor, the human impact of this is terrible,” said Brian Wong, owner.
Wong said reopening after the first shutdown was “very difficult” because the business had to comply with “about 12 pages of instructions.” He said
the restaurants took a little longer to open than some others because Tong Fong Low wanted to be certain both facilities were in compliance and doing everything right and possible to keep employees and customers safe.
“This whole going back and forth, open, not open has consequences for the business,” he said.
Tong Fong Low is closed on Mondays so when they got the news about having to reclose indoor dining, Wong said his wife, Sandy Wong, began working to set up for take out only again at both locations when they open Tuesday. While the Chico location does have an outdoor dining area, Wong said the current situation is “just too dynamic” to keep it open.
“We will be impacted by the closure of indoor dining but we have a very strong, very big, long-time takeout program. We will just keep offering our customers that service,” said Wong.
After the governor’s announcement on Monday, Tabletop Restaurant posted Monday on Facebook it would be closing. The post was later changed to say the restaurant would remain open.
“After certain high-ranking county officials, who I am not going to name, told me to talk to Butte County Public Health, I changed the post. I was advised by Butte County health not to do anything at this time, so we are going to stay open,” said Rich Gardner, owner.
Gardner also said the health department told him there would be a press conference about the situation tomorrow.
“I’m not trying to be a rebel. I am following the county’s lead and doing what they suggest at this time. Could this all change tomorrow? Sure it could, and they could say we have to shut down, but until then, we’re open,” said Gardner.
Gardner also said that reopening after the last closure cost him “$15,000 to $20,000.”
“I’m not going to disobey if they tell me I have to close. I will follow their directions exactly but, man, this is crazy. It costs me a lot of money to close and reopen. We’re just now getting back on our feet after the last closure,” said Gardner.
Gold City Grill also posted on its Facebook page Monday afternoon that, “We have spoken to Butte County Public Health and they have advised us to stay open for now, and they will be having a press conference tomorrow (today) with further instructions. So we will be fully open until told otherwise. See you all tomorrow 7 a.m.-7 p.m.”
A call from this newspaper to Gold City Grill confirmed the accuracy of this post.
Near threshold
Though Butte County has yet to appear on the statewide county watch list, Butte County Public Health indicated on Monday that could soon change. The county health department issued a press release saying that the county is “nearing the threshold regarding cases rates that will put us on that list.”
“Based on our increase in cases, we anticipate we could be placed on the state’s monitoring list at any time. Information from COVID-19 case investigations tells us that many of our new cases have been identified from gatherings with friends and family,” said Danette York, Butte County Public Health director, in the release.
Katy Thoma, Chico Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, said that although Monday’s news will restrict certain business operations, it could look much worse if Butte County ends up on the watch list. If the further restrictions are put in place, “it will be devastating to our local economy,” she said.
“I know that the Paycheck Protection Program, loan forgiveness has been extended … but still, the concern is there as far as having to rollback (businesses) again. Are they going to have to lay off employees? What is that going to mean? What will that look like?” Thoma said.
On watch
Glenn County was placed on the statewide watch list June 29 and in the two weeks since, the county’s health department has met with the California Department of Public Health to discuss strategies to slow the spread of the virus. Of the county’s 176 cases to date, 35 are active cases with five hospitalizations.
The county has coordinated with the state to increase contact tracing. Amy Travis, Glenn County Office of Emergency Services deputy director, said the county has been able to identify the origin of approximately 90% of cases. Many of them continue to spread through household contacts and social gatherings.
“Where we’re actually seeing the spread of disease is in the households and then in people having social gatherings in those households,” Travis said. “We really haven’t seen a substantial amount coming out of businesses or sectors that have been identified for closure.”
Overall, Travis said businesses have been putting forth an effort to adapt to guidelines the state has enforced. Travis said “strike teams” from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health have conducted surprise visits to businesses in the county and most businesses have “done very well.”
“The strike teams have provided education on how they (businesses) can improve, rather than closure,” Travis said.
“I hope the new business sectors will be able to adapt as much as possible and continue to operate. Because as we all know it’s very tough times … you close down for a long time and it’s going to be really hard to restart these businesses, especially in these rural counties.”