Small Businesses Bash Politicians After States Lift COVID-19 Restrictions

Texas, Mississippi and Massachusetts loosened COVID-19 restrictions on businesses this week, and while that may be welcome news for many small businesses, franchisees are already pushing back

Governors, citing declines in average daily coronavirus cases, lower hospitalization rates and increased access to vaccines, eased restrictions to allow individuals to make their own decisions. But, with restaurant workers still ineligible for the vaccine in several states and experts advising against premature reopening, some restaurant operators are hesitant to scale back safety protocols.

States Rolling Back Restrictions

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Tuesday lifting the state's mask mandate and increasing capacity of businesses and facilities to 100% effective March 10, according to a press release. 

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves also eliminated the state's mask mandate and business capacity restrictions starting Wednesday. 

Massachusetts allowed dining rooms to open at full capacity on Monday, but some restrictions still apply, including wearing masks, social distancing and limiting party size to six patrons. Arkansas also recently increased dining room capacity to 100%.

Why Some Restaurant Operators Are Resisting

In Texas, which is the largest state to ease restrictions, 85% of operators said their profit margins were lower than before the pandemic and over 10,000 restaurants closed permanently in 2020, according to the Texas Restaurant Association. While loosening restrictions may sound like a step in the right direction toward solving these issues, some restaurant and franchise owners remain skeptical.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, the restaurant-movie theater chain that declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday, announced on social media it would continue to require masks and social distancing at its locations.

“We are only following the guidance of the CDC and medical experts, not politicians,” the chain said on social media. “Right now, at what we hope is the beginning of the end of COVID, the health of our teams and our guests remains this company’s top priority.”

Liberty Burger, a popular Texas burger franchise in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, also released a statement noting it would continue with the established safety protocols.

“We were early adopters of masks and have never gone above 50% occupancy. We aren’t changing anything on our end after March 10,” the brand said on Instagram. “We will remain at 50% capacity and will continue requiring our staff to wear masks at all times as per CDC guidelines. The health and safety of our guests and staff is a top priority and we kindly ask guests to help keep our environments safe by wearing a mask, and being kind to our teams.”

Some restaurant operators have been more blunt in sharing their opinion on Abbott’s plan. Local Texas chef Michael Fojtasek posted on his Instagram that “Reopening Texas without vaccinating hospitality workers is murder.”

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California-San Francisco suggests restaurant workers are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. As of March 4, restaurant workers in Texas are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine and only an estimated 7.5% of the state's population has been fully vaccinated so far. The same is true of restaurant workers in Massachusetts, which has vaccinated an estimated 8.5% of its population. 

“By repealing the mandate, the government is putting everyone at risk, and foodservice workers are sadly at the front lines in facing potential hostility from folks who will refuse to respect our mask policy,” Anne Ng, owner of Bakery Lorraine in San Antonio, told the Texas Tribune. “We don’t deserve that.”

Several publications, including Eater, Houstonia and the Dallas Morning News have compiled lists of dozens of other restaurants in Texas that have already committed to maintaining either mask restrictions and/or dining room capacity limits.

How These Decisions Could Impact the Future

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky warned in a White House press conference on Monday that easing restrictions could slow overall progress toward reaching the end of the pandemic, specifically pointing to the more contagious variants spreading across the country.

"Please hear me clearly," said Walensky. "At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained."