‘It is a positive change.’ Merced businesses look to recover as COVID restrictions lift
There was a line of people from the cash register to the front door Tuesday afternoon at J&R Tacos in downtown Merced.
A little further down West Main Street, tables were filling up at Trevino’s as the restaurant prepared for the lunch rush. “This year has been like no other year,” said Trevino’s manager Alejandro Trevino, whose family has owned the restaurant for more than 20 years.
Following more than a year of COVID-19 restrictions in Merced County, to say most businesses were relieved to move a little closer to normal would be an understatement.
“It’s been hard not seeing our community on a daily basis,” said Melissa Eisner who owns the downtown shop Coffee Bandits.
Eisner said adjusting to the ever-changing COVID-19 guidelines during the past year has been a process. At the beginning of the pandemic her shop was able to get by from online orders. She’s seen most of her staff move away during the pandemic.
“We’ve been pretty able to adapt here,” Eisner said. “We’ve been flexible about things. It’s certainly been a process, a lot of communication.”
Most of California’s coronavirus restrictions were dropped Tuesday, as the state ditched its color-coded tier system
Still, some businesses will take longer than others to adjust.
With a few exceptions, businesses will no longer be required to have limitations on capacity, and people won’t have to physically distance, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
People who are vaccinated and two weeks past their last dose can stop wearing masks in most indoor situations. However, businesses can still require them.
Masks will still be required for unvaccinated people in businesses and indoor public settings, according to the guidance from the state Department of Public Health.
“We are trying to respect everyone’s decision of coming in wearing a mask or not,” said Oscar Torres, co-owner of J&R Taco.
“We are assuming that the people who don’t wear a mask and coming into the restaurant, that they are fully vaccinated. There’s no way to prove that, but we’re thinking that’s what it is. Hopeful we’re going in the right direction.”
Very few industries have been hit harder during the pandemic than the restaurant business. From only being allowed to offer takeout and delivery, to serving customers only outside, to allowing indoor dining and having it taken away again, to limited capacity indoor dining — it’s been a challenge for restaurants to stay afloat.
“The biggest challenge has been having business, having customers,” Torres said.
Some not ready for full capacity just yet
There’s still a wide center walkway in Trevino’s where tables used to be before the pandemic. They were removed to allow for social distancing.
Trevino says the restaurant will still operate at about 50% capacity for the near future until they can hire more staff. He says they’ve only seen about three or four applications since posting job openings on social media a couple months ago.
Before the pandemic, Trevino’s was open every day from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Due to the shortage of staff, the restaurant is now closed on Mondays and has not resumed regular working hours other days.
Operating during a pandemic has forced all restaurants to adapt.
“We had to cut hours,” Trevino said. “We had to open up later and close earlier. With staff we are having problems trying to hire people right now. Even as we are now allowed to do 100% capacity we aren’t going to do 100% because it would be just too overwhelming for our staff to satisfy everyone.”
Trevino says he doesn’t want to trade more capacity for poor service.
Torres says J&R Tacos have had some of the same issues finding employees. The restaurant wasn’t at full capacity on Tuesday with some tables closed off, but he hopes to open up fully in the next couple days.
“It is a positive change,” Torres said.
Some COVID rules remain the same
The Merced County Department of Public Health reported two new COVID-19 related deaths Tuesday, bringing the total number of fatalities in the county since the start of the pandemic to 476.
There have been 105 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Merced County since June 1 and 32,273 cases since the start of the pandemic.
Some exceptions to the lifting of the rules remain.
Vaccinated or not, people must still wear masks in some situations, including:
On public transportation, such as airplanes, trains, buses, ships, taxis and ride-shares such as Uber or Lyft; and in transportation hubs including airports, bus and train stations.
- Indoors at elementary, middle and high schools (grades kindergarten through 12), child-care centers and other youth settings.
Hospitals and health-care settings, including senior-care or long-term care centers.
- State and local correctional facilities and detention centers.
- Homeless shelters, emergency shelters and cooling centers.
Also, large “mega events” continue to have some limitations.
Events that attract more than 5,000 people to indoor venues will be required to confirm proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for admission.
Outdoor events with at least 10,000 people will be encouraged, but not required, to seek the same confirmation, according to information from the state health department. Such proof, however, can also be through self-attestation.
This story was originally published June 16, 2021 at 7:37 AM.
