Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Bethesda restaurants hit hard by new Montgomery County Covid-19 restrictions as cases, hospitalizations continue to spike


Bethesda restaurants already struggling through the coronavirus pandemic are facing another financial blow, as Covid-19 cases spike in Montgomery County ahead of what is expected to be a difficult winter. Many mom-and-pop restaurants, and even operators of chain businesses, have said they are struggling to turn a profit while surviving month-to-month with various government assistance programs. On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council unanimously approved tougher Covid-19 restrictions, including the reduction of restaurant capacity to 25% effective yesterday at 5:00 PM.

The new restrictions limit gatherings to 25 people or less. 25% capacity restrictions will also apply to houses of worship, retail stores, museums and galleries, and gyms. Restaurants will now be required to maintain a record of all indoor and outdoor patrons, for at least 30 days, to assist with contact tracing. Information collected must include date, time, name of each patron and contact information.

Loss of indoor dining capacity comes just as plummeting temperatures make outdoor dining much less practical. Whether heaters and tents will in any way reduce that impact will be determined for the first time this winter. We are in uncharted waters in an industry that already has razor-thin profit margins in high-rent, high-tax, high-operating-cost, liquor-monopoly-controlled Montgomery County.

At the same time, there is no doubt the pandemic is taking a turn for the worse as winter approaches, as many had predicted. Maryland hospital beds are currently filled at a higher rate than during the summer coronavirus spike. All County hospitals were under Blue Alert Monday night, and at least one went to a full Red Alert Tuesday, forcing rerouting of emergency patients who require electrocardiogram-monitored beds. Yesterday, Covid-related hospitalizations in America reached a record high.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:46 PM

    The betrayal by the MoCo Cartel continues....

    Get ready for our personal taxes to go up to make up for the lower business tax revenues.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wouldn't be an issue if we had a functioning federal government.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8:58 PM

    It is just a China Biden socialist coup,like the one we left in Cuba
    They close the small businesses
    Then the government comes in to “save” the people
    Yea socialized pay of $1 a week, no free media, the rich get richer the poor get poorer and soon I am on a boat to Florida thinking I could die be eaten by sharks but at least I will be free
    Then comes Biden and the AOC and I’m right back
    Where to go now because im not waiting til I need to get on a boat
    Leave while borders open
    Adios amigo

    Americans you had the most prosperous president but you let the democrats steal it all away with dead voters maidenfate snd Pelosi Software Qsnatch

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11:12 AM

    Anomymous 8:58PM

    Sounds like your on the money. I've known people from Cuba, Nicaragua, Poland, Red China, Soviet Union and Hungary. None of them had any nostalgia for their former worker paradises.

    Learning

    ReplyDelete