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business Monday 29 June 2020
Businesses weigh reopening - or close again - as cases rise

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, MAE Aaron Post, the owner of
ANDERSON and TALI ARBEL Valkyrie cocktail bar in Tul-
AP Business Writers sa, Oklahoma, reopened
It's not the reopening busi- June 5 after being closed
nesses were hoping for. for 13 weeks. With no gov-
After months of shutdown, ernment guidelines about
restaurants, stores and what to do if there is a re-
even amusement parks an- surgence of the virus, Post
nounced their reopening came up with his own met-
with fanfare. But now that rics. He plans to close if the
states like Texas and Ari- rate of positive tests hits
zona are seeing alarming 10% in his area; it's currently
surges in reported cases of at 8%.
COVID-19, businesses large "Without sweeping regula-
and small must decide tion or guidance from the
whether to keep their doors government, it's punitive to
open. businesses that are choos-
In some cases, govern- ing to be more ethical and
ments are pausing their responsible," Post said.q
reopening plans. On Fri-
day, Texas and Arizona
shut down bars except for
takeout and scaled back
restaurant dining capac-
ity. Florida banned alcohol
consumption at bars.
But many businesses had This photo provided by Lei Low Bar shows David Perez, organizing To-go orders at the Lei Low Bar
already taken those steps in Houston on Thursday, June 25, 2020.
on their own, saying rising Associated Press
case numbers and shifting
advice from state and lo- in hot spots like Florida enaw County, Michigan, won't sue if they get sick.
cal governments did not and Texas. Best Buy, which about an hour outside of But whether they can be
give them the confidence opened most of its 1,000 Detroit, 1,300 servers have enforced varies by state
to stay open. stores last week, said it is signed a petition asking and is open to debate. Em-
The Kolache Factory, which reviewing local data and county officials to close res- ployee issues will likely be
has 27 bakeries mostly in making tweaks in virus hot taurants until COVID-19 is covered by worker's com-
the Houston area, opened spots, like limiting the num- no longer a public health pensation insurance. But
dining rooms for two weeks ber of customers in the threat. They are scheduled what if a venue puts up a
before shutting them down store. to present the petition at a sign encouraging masks,
June 19 and returning to In some cases, illnesses meeting on Wednesday. then doesn't enforce it and
takeout and delivery. Chief have prompted closures. "Bar culture promotes min- a customer falls ill? It could
Operating Officer Dawn Gila River Casinos closed its gling, and in a tipping indus- be a year or two before
Nielsen was getting mixed three locations in Phoenix try, are you going to have a courts sort that out, Parker
signals from Harris County on June 18 for two weeks, fight with a customer about said.
— which required masks saying it needed to rethink wearing a mask?" said one Advice from the U.S. Cen-
— and the state of Texas, operations after a security area bartender, who asked ters for Disease Control
which didn't. guard died a week earlier. to remain anonymous be- and Prevention comes in
"It's a scary time. At some On June 20, McCray's Back- cause she fears her job the form of guidance, not
point you just have to grab yard Bar-B-Q and Seafood could be impacted. requirements. The CDC
the reins of the horse and in West Palm Beach, Flori- Many businesses are find- suggests businesses should
say, 'I just have to make da, shut its doors for 10 days ing that the risks of reopen- immediately remove sick
the decision myself and after learning one of its em- ing outweigh any reward employees or customers
not wait for someone else ployees might have been from the meager foot traf- and clean the immediate
to mandate what I have to exposed to COVID-19. The fic coming in the door, said area after 24 hours, but it
do,'" Nielsen said. restaurant is hiring a clean- Alden Parker, an attorney says the 24-hour wait is only
Lei Low Rum and Tiki Bar in ing company and requir- and co-chair of the hos- "if feasible," and can be
Houston reopened its 60- ing its 20 employees to get pitality group at the law shorter.
seat dining room at 50% tested. firm Fisher Phillips, which Matt Hinton, a partner with
capacity on June 10. But In East Lansing, Michigan, specializes in labor and Control Risks who special-
managing owner Russell Harper's Restaurant and employment law. Already, izes in crisis and resilience
Thoede said patrons didn't Brewpub reopened June more than 250 lawsuits consulting, said companies
always observe safety 8 to an exuberant college have been filed against should use government
measures, like staying seat- crowd. Now it's closed U.S. businesses nationwide restrictions as a minimum
ed and wearing masks. On again, and health officials over coronavirus, including baseline and develop their
June 18, Thoede closed the are urging people who vis- from employees who say own criteria, since they
bar again and restarted ited the bar to self-quaran- they were terminated after may have a different risk
takeout cocktail kits. His tine. As of Friday, at least 85 they tested positive. tolerance than what gov-
employees were relieved, patrons had tested positive The legal landscape is un- ernments recommend. But
he said. for COVID-19. clear. Some businesses he said many clients have
Apple, which started re- In some places, employees have been requiring cus- complained that it's hard
opening its stores May 11, are pushing for businesses tomers and employees to to know which public offi-
has closed at least 32 stores to close again. In Washt- sign a waiver saying they cials to believe.