Omicron-Related Restaurant Shutdowns Are Forcing Voluntary Closures

It appears a collection of restaurants will have to get clever again to meet customer needs during the final stretch of the holiday season.

The COVID-19 omicron variant has caused temporary closures, mainly in densely populated urban populations, and it has many restaurants feeling the same effects they felt during the initial wave of 2020 shutdowns.

This December, however, many restaurants are voluntarily adopting restrictions.

Restaurant publication Grub Street wrote a column this week on how a New York-based bar continued to operate while navigating a series of positive tests, and how the cases eventually led to a full-on shutdown. This is a gamble that many restaurants are finding they cannot afford, and if a shutdown is imminent anyways, it’s best to preserve the health and safety of workers. A spike in positive tests among workers can cause a lot more than a restaurant shutdown.

On Monday, the Chicago Tribune reported that the “dark days of the coronavirus pandemic have arrived for Chicago’s bars and restaurants once again.” The article included a list of notable businesses that had entered temporary shutdowns — some of which were not mandated, but put in place as a precaution by the restaurants themselves.

While many restaurants may be far more equipped to handle COVID-related shutdowns than they were a few months ago, the industry is still reeling from the difficulties of pandemic-era operation The restaurant industry has already seen a record level of staff shortages and a supply chain crisis this year, which have compounded their challenges.

Los Angeles County has yet to enforce any mandatory restrictions, but the county has set up a database where three or more positive tests by a business must be reported to public health officials. This has led restaurants to take on smaller staffs this month, and some have even adjusted their hours of business to meet this limit.

Another outbreak in a restaurant would be a potential death sentence that a business cannot afford to risk — and one, for many business owners and managers, isn’t worth the chance.