In years past the holidays have been a great time for West Michigan's restaurant industry.
"The month of December tends to be our third busiest month....people are back in town and people are excited to visit the places they missed," says Edwin Collazo with City Built Brewing Company.
That's not the case this year due to COVID -19. On Monday state leaders announced they would be extending the ban on indoor dining until December 20.
"I don't think we were that surprised as we expected to be closed through the new year," says Collazo.
But even though Edwin Collazo with City Built Brewing isn't surprised, he says the recent losses have been significant.
"Our typical December week might be $45,000 to $65,000 and last week we did $12,000 so just for point of reference it's a significant hit to our revenue," says Collazo.
Health officials say the extension is necessary because we still don't know the true affect of Thanksgiving gatherings.
"By the end of this week by Sunday, it will be a full 14 days from that time frame so we'll get a better feel if these gatherings and travel that people took part in is going to show up as new cases of COVID 19 infections," says Brian Hartl with the Kent County Health Department.
The order will keep existing measures in place through Dec. 20 and does not include a blanket stay-home action.
“We are disappointed that the closure was extended, especially since before the most recent shutdown, MDHHS data indicated that bars and restaurants did not significantly contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in Michigan,” said The Michigan Licensed Beverage Association Executive Director Scott Ellis. “The governor and the legislature must come to an agreement this week to provide the necessary funding to save this industry.”
Monday the state of Michigan reported a total confirmed case count of 404,386 with the total death toll at 9,947
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