This article was originally published on August 10th, 2021 to Newsbreak.
A growing number of bars and restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area are experiencing COVID-19 positive employees and suddenly closing temporarily while they try to navigate the virus cases as the delta variant begins to grip America.
This comes after the San Francisco Bar Alliance recently banded together to begin requiring COVID-19 vaccine proof for indoor entry, as a proactive step to fight increasing cases and avoid a potential future shutdown which has devastated business in California since the pandemic began. The move was applauded by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, although the government has yet to pass a mandate for the public themselves and instead has brought back indoor mask mandates.
Despite the push for vaccine mandates and proactive bar requirements, there are an increasing number of businesses sharing COVID-19 positive news on their social media channels.
El Lopo Wine Bar on Polk Street shared this on their Instagram profile, “Someone in our community has unfortunately tested positive, so we’re going to be closed until at least Wednesday the 11th. We’ll be back as soon as our entire team has been cleared. Cue the smug comments from the antivaxxers…”
Bar owner, Daniel, shared with me: “Broadly I’d just say that anyone who wants to help the bar industry recover should get vaccinated, to minimize how much longer this thing can drag out. From bar to bar, just try to respect whatever safety rules a business is asking guests to follow. Yes, the rules take some of the fun out of it, but they’re there so that we can go back to having more fun sooner. The people who made those rules aren’t doctors, but they thought long and hard about how best to protect their staff and customers without going out of business, and this is what they believe has the best chance of getting them there.”
Meanwhile, Aziza located at 5800 Geary Boulevard in San Francisco’s Richmond District shared news of their own temporary closure on Instagram, “last week one of our team members tested positive for covid-19. out of an abundance of caution for all, including our patrons and the public in general, we decided to close Aziza for a couple of days and required our entire staff get tested. When it was all said and done, and after a few initial false positive rapid tests, 3 fully vaccinated members of our staff were confirmed infected with the delta variant of COVID.”
“As a result, we decided to stay closed for a minimum of 12 days to allow everyone to recover mentally and physically. This pandemic is not over yet. We are still in the middle of it, and we need to keep our guards up and be cautious. As a safety measure and an act of patriotism, everyone should be willing to show proof of vaccination before being allowed to fully integrate back into society.”
“This should be mandated by Mayor London Breed and Governor Gavin Newsom in order to provide protection for all. If people choose not to get vaccinated, that is their constitutional right, but it should not come at the expense of others. It’s not the responsibility of small businesses such as restaurants to decide whether it is right or wrong to verify proof of vaccination from the public. That’s the government’s job. The bottom line is that people who chose not to get vaccinated are putting themselves, others and our society as a whole at risk. They should not be allowed to get on planes, go to restaurants, visit museums, stay in hotels, attend indoor sporting events….etc until they decide to be responsible and accountable members of society.”
“Gavin Newsom do your job and put into law a mandate that makes it very hard for anyone who chooses not to get vaccinated to inflict more hardships on those of us who believe in science and reason, and who want to seriously end this pandemic and all the s*** it has put most of us thru in the last year and a half. Let’s show some balls and make unreasonable people act reasonably for the sake of all. It has to come from you, so don’t hide behind politics. You know it’s the right thing to do.”
Recent polls of San Francisco residents show they support vaccine mandates, time will tell if they are implemented by the government.
Carlos Eats 