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 Most states have already lifted restrictions on indoor, according to
the National Governors Association.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said restaurants and movie theaters
could open for indoor service on Friday for the first time since the
coronavirus shutdown began in March. But they must limit indoor
patrons to 25% of their capacity, and space seating between groups
in accordance with social-distancing rules, Murphy said at a news
conference.
"Masks are required to be worn at all times in the theater unless
you're pulling it down to put away a handful of popcorn," Murphy
said.
In California, where overly optimistic reopening plans were rolled
back as cases spiked this summer, business owners worried that the
pandemic would continue to impact them despite the loosened
restrictions.
"It's been an emotional roller-coaster from the get-go," said Jeff
Rossman, a chef who owns two restaurants in San Diego.
Rossman, president of the San Diego Restaurant Association, does not
plan an immediate opening for his eateries, Terra American Bistro
and Bunz Gourmet Burger Joint, in part because he's not sure enough
customers will come back to justify the cost of remodeling interiors
to meet coronavirus restrictions and hiring staff to serve customers
indoors.
The company had been breaking even by offering food only to go
during the tightest pandemic restrictions and participating in a
state program that provided restaurant meals to seniors, Rossman
said. Opening up for patio service when that was allowed added to
expenses and made it more challenging to keep the company in the
black, Rossman said.
California's new rules allow indoor dining in 19 counties, including
San Diego, where transmission rates have begun to ease. Gyms, houses
of worship and movie theaters in those counties are also open for
indoor activities, with capacity restrictions.
While indoor dining bans are still in effect in the California
counties where most residents live, hair salons were allowed to
reopen statewide on Monday, with modifications, under a system
unveiled last week by Governor Gavin Newsom.
It's illustrative of the two steps forward and one step back that
has characterized attempts by states to manage the global pandemic.
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"There are a lot of lingering concerns, because we've been here before and had
to shut back down," said Jerry Sanders, president of the San Diego Regional
Chamber of Commerce
In New York City, once the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, Mayor Bill de Blasio
ruled out a resumption of indoor dining anytime soon.
"It would take a huge step forward to get to that point," de Blasio told a
briefing on Monday.
The economic fallout from the pandemic has left the most populous U.S. city with
a budget shortfall, rising costs and depressed revenue, prompting de Blasio to
warn that 22,000 jobs may need to be cut.
But on Monday he said he would suspend layoffs "on a day-to-day basis" while
municipal union leaders try to convince state lawmakers in Albany to go back
into session and authorize the city to borrow several billion dollars in the
long-term debt markets.
New Jersey and New York were the two hardest-hit states when the virus began
spreading in the United States in the spring, but have since brought their
infection rates down to among the nation's lowest.
By contrast, California, the country's most populous state, reported the most
new cases of COVID-19 in August, with nearly 200,000 infections.
Coronavirus cases rose in 10 states, up from eight states a week ago, according
to a Reuters analysis.
South Dakota health officials said they traced 105 new cases to the annual
Sturgis motorcycle rally that drew hundreds of thousands of people from Aug. 7
to 16.
(Reporting by Maria Caspani and Peter Szekely in New York, Barbara Goldberg in
Maplewood, New Jersey, Lisa Shumaker in Chicago and Sharon Bernstein in
Sacramento, California; Writing by Peter Szekely and Sharon Bernstein; Editing
by Bill Berkrot, Rosalba O'Brien and Leslie Adler)
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