Failing Restaurants Risk Fines To Open Doors In The Face Of Dining Ban

Health officials across the U.S. have been forced to level fines against already-struggling restaurants that blatantly violated pandemic-related indoor dining bans, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday (Jan. 13).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website indicates that indoor dining is a “particularly high-risk” activity since people can’t wear masks and tend to be in smaller spaces, close together. Further, talking loudly in crowded spaces with insufficient air filtration is a known cause of spreading the coronavirus.

Although many states are still letting restaurants offer outdoor dining, curbside pickup and takeout, cold temperatures in many parts of the country make eating outside tough. 

In response, restaurants struggling to survive with employees needing work have defied state laws and reopened even though case numbers and deaths are escalating to some of the highest numbers seen since the pandemic started in March 2020.

Restaurant owners have said their sector was singled out and treated unfairly, pointing to big-box retailers and airlines, which were able to continue operations. Mayors from several municipalities in Oregon in support of restarting indoor dining formed a task force to raise money for a possible legal battle. Similar mutinies are picking up momentum in Michigan, Pennsylvania, California and Washington State.

States led by Democratic governors tend to have the strictest dining rules and as such have been a target for right-wing groups that have reportedly offered to organize protests or provide armed security for businesses’ front doors, AP reported. 

In Oregon, for example, protesters attacked the homes belonging to several officials after the state fined the fitness chain Capitol Racquet Sports Inc., $90,000. More fines totaling $126,749 were added after officials returned to the locations and found them still open.

The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic hit the restaurant industry especially hard. Almost 100,000 locations — roughly 1 in 6 restaurants nationwide — have closed their doors either temporarily or permanently, according to estimates from the National Restaurant Association last month.