The Ohio Restaurant Association is expressing concerns that any lockdowns as a result of the delta variant will be devastating to the industry.
The association believes that scenario is not likely because of Senate Bill 22, which restricts the power of the Department of Health. Association President and CEO John Barker says another lockdown would cripple an already hurting industry statewide.
“What we’re seeing across the board—everywhere in Ohio—we’re seeing restaurants stay closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, in some cases also Wednesdays. Restaurant chains closing early," Barker said. "We’ve seen coffee chains closing at 3 o’clock in the afternoon saying, ‘We just don’t have enough people to fill out the shifts.’”
Barker says that although restaurants were able to recover financially somewhat this summer, customer traffic in downtown areas is still down 60 to 70 percent from before the pandemic.
