Restaurant owners across Marin County said they may have to lay off hundreds of employees, after health officials declared eateries must stop indoor dining effective Tuesday because of the coronavirus pandemic.
This will be the second round of layoffs and loss of business due to the pandemic since last spring.
When Peter Schumacher found out just two days ago that he was going to have to close down his indoor dining again, he said he was shocked and baffled.
Schumacher is the owner of Mill Valley’s Buckeye Roadhouse, which employs several dozen workers. He said he’s very concerned about his staff’s well being.
“My staff is devastated,” he told KCBS Radio. “I’m going to have to layoff most of my staff. There’s no help from the government, and they will not be able to pay their rent.”
In March, all county restaurants were made to close. This summer, they were allowed to reopen at 25% capacity, then 50% capacity.
Marin health officials announced that an increase in coronavirus cases would push the county from the orange “Moderate” tier of the California’s coronavirus reopening system, back to the more restrictive red “Substantial” tier.
Carol Fox frequents several local restaurants.
“I believe it is very serious, when you make this decision about closing them down at this time of the year, when this is their only opportunity, with the holiday season, to try to catch up,” she told KCBS Radio.
She and others fear many restaurants could close for good.
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