When Gov. Newsom announced COVID-19 restrictions that prohibit indoor dining at restaurants in the Southern California region, it was a tough pill for Joanne Currie to swallow as the owner of the Splash Cafe in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County.
“With winter around the corner, we were finally making peace with our little bit of cozy outside and at least 25% inside,” Currie told Southern California Record. “We thought we could muddle through but then the door slammed on that little bit of inside seating. It was a devastating blow to most restaurants.”
Currie is among restaurant owners in SLO County who have been struggling with coronavirus restrictions issued regionally by the state.
“If Walmart and all of those big stores are open with everybody wandering around inside them then I don’t think it’s right to shut down little family-owned restaurant doing 25% seating like we were two months ago,” Currie said in an interview.
The SLO County Board of Supervisors is reportedly contemplating filing a lawsuit against the state of California in a bid to remove SLO County from the Southern California region, according to media reports.
Southern California has been under severe COVID restrictions since Dec. 6 in which citizens are not allowed to congregate with others outside their household, they are advised to stay home, no indoor dining is allowed and gyms are closed.
“We got connected to the Southern California region because the governor wanted to create five regions,” Currie said. ”So, he took San Luis Obispo and connected us to Southern California but our hospitalization numbers and our ICU stats aren’t the same even percentage-wise."
As of Jan. 13, California had 2,747,288 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, resulting in 30,513 deaths, which is an increase of 1.8% from the prior day total of 29,965, according to the state COVID-19 dashboard. In SLO County, some 14,213 coronavirus cases are reported, resulting in 111 fatalities.
“They should have made us part of the central California region with Santa Barbara County, Ventura County and Monterey County because our numbers are low and our demographics are very similar,” Currie said.
When the COVID-19 vaccine is widely distributed, Currie expects to fully reopen Splash Cafe but currently, only 35% of Californians have been immunized with the supply of doses that the state received so far, according to the LA Times.
“A lot of people are talking about hopefully this summer and obviously that would be fantastic if we can get enough buy-in from people to get vaccinated and actually develop this herd immunity,” Currie added.
Currently, revenue at the Splash Cafe in SLO has dropped by 25%, according to Currie.
"We tried to make our outside seating a little warmer and cozier and we've definitely become very comfortable with everything presented in takeout style," she said. "We upgraded our takeout containers in April when we realized that everything was going to be about takeout. So, we are focused on making sure that everything looks as attractive as possible."