During the months that Michigan restaurants were closed for indoor dining, many tried to survive by offering takeout and delivery. | Adobe Stock
During the months that Michigan restaurants were closed for indoor dining, many tried to survive by offering takeout and delivery. | Adobe Stock
Michigan restaurant and hotel operators pleaded with members of the Michigan Legislature, during a recent hearing, to ease up on COVID-19 restrictions while there is still time, Bridge Michigan reported.
“If something doesn’t change, we will lose our restaurant,” Sue Wangler, owner of Wangler's Wagon Wheel in West Branch, told members of the Michigan House Oversight Committee.
The frequent closings and reductions in restaurant seating capacity have taken their toll on the business, Wangler said. She and her husband have spent $165,000 on modifications for COVID-19, but with indoor seating limited to 25%, they are not sure the restaurant can survive.
“I’ve applied for every (government) loan out there, but I got zero,” Wangler told the Legislature, according to Bridge Michigan. “We’ve not gotten any help. These loans are like a lottery.”
Other owners told similar stories at the hearing.
The Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association has proposed tying restrictions to the rate of COVID-19 positive tests in the community, which would allow capacity to go up or down as the data changes. For example, restaurants would be able to operate at 50% capacity if the positivity rate was 3.9%, and there would be no limits if it dipped below 3%.
According to Bridge Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said "the last 12 months have been hard for everyone” and that “the burden’s been greater for the restaurant industry, there’s no question.” But she said the state is faring better than other states because Michigan is “being very thoughtful about incrementally re-engaging sectors of our economy that just inherently pose a higher risk.”
Out of 736 new and ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in Michigan, as of Feb. 11, only four were associated with restaurants or bars, Bridge Michigan reported. All four of the cases were connected to employees, not customers.
Most restaurants are doing everything they can to follow safety rules, said Brandon Hopkins of the Pale Blue Smoking Co., a catering service and barbecue restaurant in Gladwin, which is in northern Michigan.
“We know that the pandemic is real, and we understand that it is contagious, and we understand the need to protect our community,” Hopkins told Bridge Michigan. “That’s why we followed all of the protocols since last March that we were asked to, and our inspection reports are flawless. And it’s why it feels like our industry has been unfairly targeted as a source of massive spread of the virus.”
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