Possible restrictions have lawmakers and restaurant owners wary
HARRISBURG— Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’ s Monday message that more coronavirus mitigation measures may come soon loomed over the state’s already-reeling restaurant industry Wednesday, and Republican lawmakers said any new restrictions should be applied with care.
Republican House Majority Leader Rep. Kerry Benninghoff of Centre County issued a statement that — while not specific to restaurants — offered a retort to Wolf’s comments.
“Gov. Wolf, do not cancel Christmas. Do not use your executive order pen to devastate lives and livelihoods,”
Benninghoff said. “Government mandates will not cure COVID19 and unilateral shutdowns will not create personal responsibility.”
The state reported 8,703 more virus cases and 220 more virus deaths Wednesday. Early Wednesday afternoon, Wolf’s office issued a statement that the governor himself had tested positive for the virus and was isolating at home.
Wolf said Monday that the virus surge threatened to overwhelm hospitals and past mitigation measures did not seem to be working. Hence, he said, a decision on potential newones would come “very shortly.”
A Wolf spokeswoman early Wednesday afternoon said the office had nothing new to say on the topic.
Already, restaurants face restrictions including a 25% of capacity indoor dining limit unless they certify that they are following virus safety protocols, in which case they may operate at 50%.
Restaurants struggle
Donna Walters’ restaurant, Ye Olde Spring Valley Tavern in Upper Saucon Township, is operating at 50% capacity, and it’s been a financial struggle.
She has 15 employees.
“I don’t know anybody who has been infected with COVID who has come to my restaurant,” she said. “Themedia is constantly putting out that numbers are going up, but I read stuff that says it isn’t much worse than the flu.”
“I don’t know who to believe,” Walters said, adding that she thinks her restaurant is safe.
Southside 313, a bar and restaurant in Bethlehem, is still open but struggling. Co-owner Sue Dech believes a shutdown might be coming.
“We are devastated,” said Dech, who owns the business with her husband. “You don’t know what to think or what to do. It is just day-by-day.”
The 55-seat bar at the Steel Club in Lower Saucon Township has been closed since the start of the pandemic.
Instead of 30-40 weddings this year, the multivenue property — which includes a golf course, 185-seat restaurant, ballroom and meeting rooms — has had only three or four of what majority owner Dave Spirk calls “micro weddings.”
Spirk said, “It is very tough to not make any money, and probably lose money for the year, and to see a business you have worked so hard on pretty much go away.”
Lawmakers weigh in
“If restaurants are shut down again totally, very few of them will come back, “said Republican Rep. Jack Rader of Monroe County.
Republican Rep. Mark Gillen of Berks County said he had heard rumors of Wolf planning more limitations for restaurants, but nothing definite.
Any more actions on the industry, Gillen said, could be a “crushing blow” that would “affect the lives of people sitting around Christmas trees.”
State Sen. David Argall, a Schuylkill County Republican, said restaurant operators “are fatigued by the virus, and they are fatigued by the government response to the virus.”
Argall said he hopes state government “will respect the important role that restaurants play in our economy and find ways to work with them.”
Argall acknowledged that the virus numbers are scary.
“People have a right to be concerned,” he said.
Republican Sen. Mario Scavello of Monroe County said that beyond the livelihoods of restaurant owners and employees, he is concerned about the loss of revenuefor the state andwhatit might mean in the next budget cycle.
Scavello noted a few weeks ago, the state used $1.3 billion in federal coronavirus aid — originally intended to help small
businesses, organizations and people affected by the virus — to balance its coronavirus-hammered current-year budget.
In the near future, Scavello said, that financially speaking, “The more people you put out there on the unemployment line, the more problems you are going to have.”
Virus statistics
Of the 8,703 newly reported cases Wednesday, 253 were in Lehigh County and 226 in Northampton County.
None of the newly reported deaths were in Lehigh or Northampton.
Around midday, state data showed there were 5,852 people hospitalized — the highest number of the pandemic — with 1,191 in intensive care and 675 on ventilators.
But state metrics used to determine when hospitals should be ordered to reduce elective procedures continued to show Lehigh Valley hospitals have not reached crisis thresholds.
For instance, just before midday, the data showed a 3.9%
increase in COVID-19 admissions during the previous 48 hours at hospitals in the Northeast region, which includes Lehigh and Northampton counties. A surge of greater than 50% in incoming patients in a region is one of the crisis-measuring metrics set by the state.
The seven-day moving average of newly reported cases was 9,984 on Wednesday, compared with 6,800 a week ago.