In the short time they were open, Repass says staff followed safety guidelines down to a T: They required customers to wear masks when moving. They offered hand sanitizer at the door. Waiters and servers wore masks. No one gathered and almost no one used cash. But that was not enough.
Unsure of how long this second blow can last, Repass has now applied for unemployment. And you are not alone.
Bar owners across the state and in other parts of the country that were forced into a second shutdown say they don’t know what it will be like this time, and whether they will be able to survive.
The orders to close bars at various critical points in the US come when some healthcare professionals have called the crowded bar scenes across the country the perfect places for the virus.
Second round for Florida’s ravaged bars
When cases began to surface in Florida, the Volstead bar in downtown Jacksonville closed for another deep cleanup, the bar’s chief marketing officer, Hana Ferguson said. All staff members were screened for the virus, he added, and were cleared.
“We barely survived the first close and once we were allowed to reopen in Phase 2, we were very strict about following all CDC guidelines,” said Ferguson. “We have had a hard time making ends meet, especially with all the rules in place.”
“All they did was flip the switch,” says Paul Medrano, owner of two bars in Tampa. “So now you’re going from a bar to a restaurant that acts as a bar, so you’re not cutting down on people who could get infected because all they are doing is moving them to another location.”
“None of this makes sense,” says Medrano.
Like the other bars CNN spoke to, Medrano says the staff worked to enforce all safety precautions, including providing masks for incoming patrons who didn’t have one and maintaining distances of at least six feet between each table. But he says that was not the case in all institutions.
“It was, for me, the criminals,” says the owner of the bar, which caused the second closure. “It’s like elementary school. One person breaks the rules and everyone has to pay it.”
The financial impacts
Behind every adjustment states had to make to combat a further spread of the coronavirus, bar owners say it was a devastating financial impact.
Staff members are struggling to earn a living, says Ferguson.
“For them, this is their career. They are risking everything to go back to work” only to be expelled, he said.
But there is also the money used to keep the business alive.
Houston’s Repass says that when its bars first closed during the initial shutdown, they spent thousands ordering the right equipment to sell their take-out products. They trained their servers and waiters to a completely different business model.
Then, when the state began to lift measures and ordered bars to be opened, Repass says the bars invested more money in creating pleasant patios for customers to sit outside, as recommended by health officials. They trained their staff.
And now, with rising costs and tax deadlines, Repass only says it hopes its state has at least reached its peak of new cases, a sign that would mean things could start to improve soon.
Medrano, in Tampa, does not see this second closure lasting less than two weeks.
“I would say my estimate will be a month, a month and a half and that … will be a pinch,” Medrano said.
“It will hurt.”
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