Pa.’s new virus restrictions making Christmas less merry
By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
New COVID-19 mandates have turned Gov. Tom Wolf into a Grinch among many local business owners.
With Christmas around the corner and virus cases rising at an unprecedented rate, the governor announced the measures Thursday.
The order, which took effect this morning, will shutter dining rooms in area bars and restaurants and limit the capacity of retail shops during one of the busiest times of the year.
The action will push local businesses further into the red and make life more difficult for their employees, most of whom will go without income for the next three weeks.
Mon Valley business owners are frustrated, worried and afraid.
Alexandra and Steve Broomhead, owners of the Tree House Restaurant in North Belle Vernon, said they are heartbroken about the new restrictions.
Since the initial shutdown in March, restaurants, bars and taverns have faced constantly changing restrictions, leaving business owners stumbling to keep up.
“We stayed strong for a while, but then once some time went past and summer came with all of the restrictions we lost a lot of business,” Alexandra Broomhead said. “Being shut down and then the flip flopping of going from 50% to 25% back to 50% and then being shut down again has been extremely difficult. We don’t know which way to turn.”
Her husband has taken on a second job to support his family.
“To make matters worse, the building that we rent from, the Belle Vernon American Legion, has been decimated,” she said.
The couple attempts to support the Legion by giving them proceeds from soda and alcohol sales, but if the legion goes under then so do they.
“If they go down, we do, too, and it is so sad because that club is so important to so many of our veterans,” Alexandra Broomhead said. “It’s not fair to see them struggle like this.”
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