SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Some Sacramento businesses have announced their plans to close for the rest of the year as a new statewide curfew is set to take effect in an effort to stop the spread of a new wave of coronavirus.
One of those businesses, The Shady Lady Saloon on R Street, cited ongoing challenges related to the pandemic as a reason for the closure. The business announced on their Facebook page they will close until early 2021.
“Due to the ongoing challenges of COVID and the worsening weather, we have decided to take a short hiatus. We would like to thank all of you for your continued support,” the post read.
Shady Lady co-owner Garret Vanvleck said the costs of operating during the colder months of the pandemic began to outweigh temporarily closing. The business had been planning a potential closure as state-mandated restrictions meant to slow the coronavirus continued. Vanvleck said the curfew did not directly impact his decision to close, but it also didn’t help.
The B-Side restaurant and bar announced it will also stop operations until early next year. This comes as a statewide curfew is set to take effect in purple tier counties including Sacramento County on Saturday. The curfew will take last from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. every day until Dec. 21, 2020.
ABC10 medical expert Dr. Payal Kohli said curfews are likely to only be marginally effective.
“I think the idea is that we have to really have to target the measures that are going to be the highest yield in terms of breaking that chain of transmission and what are those places? They’re restaurants. They’re bars,” Kohli said.
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that social gatherings are leading to the most recent spike in coronavirus cases across the U.S.
Kohli said to bend the curve, Americans must heed warnings of health officials not to gather. She said this will be especially important as we near Thanksgiving and other winter holidays.
The coronavirus case data in the first two weeks of December are likely to be a gauge for health officials to determine if even more severe restrictions may be necessary, Kohli said.
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