The city of Pasadena, California, is refusing to comply with Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s strict coronavirus restrictions prohibiting in-person restaurant dining; outdoor dining will continue.
Restaurants in Democrat-run states are barely surviving and even shuttering as the government repeatedly closes them through lockdowns.
“The City of Pasadena will continue to assess our COVID [Chinese coronavirus] numbers and work closely with Huntington Hospital and give as much advance notice as possible if the City’s Order is going to change in any respect,” city spokesperson Lisa Derderian said in a CBS affiliate in Los Angeles report.
“For every restaurant staff member, there’s a family behind that person,” Derderian said.
The news outlet reported on the development:
Derderian said that city leaders made a relatively unanimous decision to keep the restaurants open based on current numbers. She acknowledged the hardships many business owners have gone through during this pandemic, and said that this contributed to officials’ decision.
After reaching a 4,000 five-day daily average of cases on Sunday, the county released a health order requiring in-person dining to shut down at restaurants, wineries, and breweries as of 10 p.m. Wednesday.
The city of Pasadena has its own health department, which makes it possible for it to issue different health orders than those issues by the county.
“These proposed measures by the Department of Public Health will further devastate local businesses and employees who have been asked to shoulder an unfair burden this year,” Kathryn Barger, a member of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, said in a statement after she had said earlier she opposed the elimination of in-person dining.
“Barger said that only 10-15 percent of positive COVID-19 cases are related to dining with someone who tested positive,” CBS reported. “Closing outdoor dining could also create the unintended consequence of prompting more private gatherings.”
“Businesses have made incredible sacrifices to align with safety protocols to remain open in order to pay their bills and feed their families,” Barger said. “Increased case counts are not coming from businesses reopening, but from large gatherings where people aren’t wearing masks.”
“We aren’t helpless in slowing the spread of COVID-19 and can protect ourselves and our neighbors by maintaining physical distancing and wearing face coverings,” Barger said.
Board member Janice Hahn also spoke out on the ban.
“While I know our case counts are growing rapidly, I would have rather discussed this measure openly during our Board of Supervisors meeting so that the public could understand the rationale behind it,” Hahn said on Twitter, CBS reported. “Some of these restaurants are barely hanging on. I hope this isn’t the last nail in their coffins. I wish we could have figured out a way to put in more restrictions rather than completely shutting down dining.”
Correction: At publication this story indicated that indoor dining would continue in Pasadena, when in fact, in-person dining will continue, but outdoors.
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