Pasadena Restaurateurs Face Uncertainty as COVID-19 Infections Surge

With COVID-19 infections rising across the state and a return to mandated masking indoors this week, some Pasadena restaurant owners are closely monitoring the situation for signs of further restrictions on their industry, which was among the hardest hit during the pandemic lockdown.

The rate of COVID-19 transmission, fueled by the particularly contagious Delta variant, reached levels not seen in either Pasadena or Los Angeles County for more than five months, although still exponentially lower than that recorded at the pandemic’s height, according to county and city public health agencies.

But the rate of vaccination has also been growing. The majority of Californians and Los Angeles County residents above the minimum eligible age of 12 have been fully vaccinated, and more than 80.5% of Pasadenans were fully vaccinated as of this week, officials said.

Nonetheless, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health enacted an order last Sunday requiring everyone to wear masks while indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status. Pasadena followed suit on Thursday.

“Fully vaccinated people are largely protected from symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 infection; however, data are still being gathered and analyzed for additional clarity on their role in transmission,” city officials said in a written statement. “This is why it’s important for us to mask up indoors right now.”

Gov. Gavin Newson ended the state’s tiered, infection-rate triggered “Blueprint for Safer Economy” system last month.

But with COVID-19 cases again mounting, some local restaurateurs said they can’t help but worry about possible further restrictions, looking back on the devastation their industry suffered earlier in the pandemic.

Business has been rebounding well at Pie ‘B Burger, said owner Michael Osborne.

“I’ve worried all along that if we had a recurrence, as business owners, are we going to be shut down again for indoor dining? Are we going to be relegated to take out? Are we going to move back to outdoor dining?” he asked.

“From a customer standpoint right now, I see people really still being supportive… people going out to eat and those kinds of things. So I’m not as worried about that as I am from the government side and what they may impose on us going forward,” Osborne said.

“If something like that happened again, I think you’d see people leave the industry. I see some longer-term ramifications if things get shut down again,” he said.

“I’m certainly concerned, and I’ve been concerned since we reopened,” said Osborne. “I guess as long as this thing is out there floating around, we are at the mercy of the government agencies that really control our ability to open and how we’re able to operate.

“And I don’t mind stating, from a personal standpoint, I feel that there was a lot of overreach in the beginning, and there’s been a lot of overreach throughout the whole process,” he added. “…things that we were required to do that turned out really not to be very effective in fighting COVID or controlling the spread of it.”

Osborne said he hoped the high local vaccination rate would make further restrictions unnecessary.

SORRISO-Bar Celona and IX Tapa Cantina owner Jack Huang said he noticed a downturn in business on Thursday when Pasadena’s renewed mask mandate took effect.

“And we have felt a little slow down in the last week or two, ever since the talk [about] some kind of a mask mandate,” he said.

Customers have not been reacting positively to the renewed mask rule, and the constantly changing rules have been frustrating for businesses, Huang said.

“We thought we jumped over all the hurdles and hoops, forwards and backwards and left and right. And here we are,” he said.

Huang said he wondered whether more restrictions were on the horizon.

“None of us can tell, but any kind of uncertainty creates a lot of stress on the operators. Do we hire some people? Do we continue forward?” Huang said.

“It’s more than annoying; it’s frustrating,” he added.

“We’re all in this together. We’ve got to get that vaccination rate up. Protect yourself, protect others and slow down and eliminate this health crisis that we have,” Huang said.

Pasadena Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Paul Little said it appeared highly unlikely businesses would again be forced to close down or severely alter operations due to the current increase in COVID-19 transmission.

“I don’t see it coming, at least not anytime soon,” Little said.

“I think the mask mandate makes sense,” he added. The policy removes uncertainty and confusion created by policies that allow people to forego masks if fully vaccinated and results in one simple rule for everyone, he said.

As the policy currently stands, “I don’t think it’s going to make a substantial difference for most businesses,” Little said. “There are no capacity restrictions. There aren’t any closures. So, in that sense, it’s not a dramatic change.”

It’s always alarming to see COVID-19 cases trending upward, he said. “But I’m not concerned right now that we’re headed for another lockdown. I just don’t see that happening, because the reality is close to 100% of the people who are getting infected are not vaccinated.

“I don’t think we’re headed in that direction right now and I certainly hope we don’t get there,” he said. “But we just have to see what happens, at least for now.”

Pasadena Issues Updated Health Order Requiring Indoor Masking, Regardless of Vaccination Status