Most restaurants are barely keeping afloat. Any interruption in their operation would be fatal. And here it comes thanks to our clueless soon-to-be EX governor (hope hope hope!!!!!) From the office of he who shall soon be unemployed:
Inslee statement on statewide shutdown of restaurants, bars and limits on size of gatherings expanded
Gov. Jay Inslee released a statement tonight that further expands protections against COVID-19.
“Given the explosion of COVID-19 in our state and globally, I will sign a statewide emergency proclamation tomorrow to temporarily shut down restaurants, bars and entertainment and recreational facilities.
“Restaurants will be allowed to provide take-out and delivery services but no in-person dining will be permitted.
“The ban will not apply to grocery stores and pharmacies. Other retail outlets will have reduced occupancy.
“Additionally, all gatherings with over 50 participants are prohibited and all gatherings under 50 participants are prohibited unless previously announced criteria for public health and social distancing are met.
“These are very difficult decisions, but hours count here and very strong measures are necessary to slow the spread of the disease. I know there will be significant economic impacts to all our communities and we are looking at steps to help address those challenges.
“Tonight, after consultations with me and with the Department of Health, King County announced that they will be taking these actions immediately. King County has been the hotbed of this outbreak and has the largest population center in the state. I have spoken to Executive Dow Constantine and I applaud their decision to act quickly. We will do a joint media announcement with more details tomorrow morning.”
Going out to eat is the poster-child for Implied Consent. You know there is a pandemic out there, you know that you may catch the Wuhan Flu but you decide to eat out anyway. Therefore, there is no claim against the restaurant if you get sick.
This is just a stupid decision and one that will hurt or kill many small local restaurants. It is Kabuki Theater instead of proper pandemic management. Doing something for the sake of doing something. Something that sounds good instead of something that actually does good. The large chains will tighten their belts and recover. I wonder how much money Gov. Inslee gets from them in campaign contributions...
UPDATE: Just checked here (Public Disclosure Comission) and he has gotten money from two branches of the SEIU union which is food and hospitality and from the United Food and Commercial Workers union. This is just the first page - a lot more here.
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