Opportunity, caution lie ahead for restaurants, the rest of us
One year and one day after the first case of COVID-19 was announced in Anne Arundel County, restrictions on seating capacity for restaurants will be lifted. Within limits, it is cause for celebration. Restaurants and bars still will have to maintain 6 feet between most customers; masks will still be required under new rules that go into effect this afternoon. And the crowded bar scene won’t be making a comeback anytime soon, at least where the rules aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus are observed, and people are demonstrating common sense.
Figuring out how to make it work will be a work in progress and no easy task.
Restaurants are social intersections blamed for spiking transmissions last winter by local and national public health experts. One reason is that people take masks off to eat; another is that flowing alcohol leads people to let their guard down — literally their masks and sense of social distance.
St. Patrick’s Day on Wednesday will be an interesting test of how this is going to work. The desire to get out and drink a pint of dark beer with a creamy foam head — Guinness comes to mind, but there are alternatives — is pretty strong for a lot of people who have been hunkered at home for months.
In preparation for this day, Anne Arundel County launched an enforcement effort at Cancun Cantina in Hanover two weeks ago intended to send a message to restaurateurs: Transmission numbers are falling, the number of vaccines is rising, but there is still plenty of reason to be concerned about coronavirus variants. Rules remain, and enforcement will continue.
The timing of eased restrictions could not be better for the restaurants taking part in Annapolis Restaurant Week from March 20 to March 28 and the current Annapolis Oyster Fest leading up to it.
Restaurants and hospitality businesses are clearly part of a sector that suffered the most in the year-long pandemic pause. One industry advocate predicts it could be one to two years before these businesses fully recover.
It may take some time before those staying at home out of respect for public health warnings feel it is safe to venture for a meal again, even if they have a strong desire to help local businesses.
That means some of the experimentation with outdoor dining will almost assuredly stay and even become a permanent fixture of city streets. Restaurants have to find ways to serve more people while maintaining social distances, and keeping those tables in what was once parking is a logical choice.
Another question yet to be answered is whether the jobs that were lost in foodservice and hospitality will come back quickly or at all.
Expanded unemployment benefits approved in Washington Thursday will make it a bit easier for people laid off from these jobs to hold on a bit longer in hopes they will come back, but this year-long disruption leads to changes in the business model.
Small businesses will only bring back staff once demand rises, and they recoup losses of a year with vastly reduced revenues. If, as President Joe Biden and his allies predict, we could be heading into an economic boom, other jobs may draw many former restaurant workers to new fields.
Changes to the rules begin at 5 p.m. We’ll see what happens next.