Businesses Call For Help After Second Round Of Indoor Closures
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — There's a cry for help from businesses in Sacramento County, which are now facing another round of closures.
The new guidance officially went into effect Thursday at 3 p.m., which means restaurants are now left to scramble to find a solution to survive.
For 26 years, Tapas The World Restaurant has called midtown home. Executive Chef Marcos Murillos has been there for two decades and officially bought the place in his name on January 1st, 2020.
"Six weeks later I get to enjoy this," Murillos says, pointing to the COVID-19 epidemic closing down indoor dining once again. Hearing that news was just another blow.
READ: 'Wear A Mask' Campaign Launched In Response To California Coronavirus Surge
"That was like painful, like another one?" Murillos said.
He calls the ever-changing orders and county guidance confusing and says he's just trying to survive.
"It's hard, it's tough, I never experienced something like this," he said.
He gets some financial aid but says it's not enough.
"That's the main way a small business like us can survive," he said.
Meanwhile, Elias Selhi, owner of Tony's Delicatessen, is closing up shop. Elias says the governor's notice that Sacramento County would be closing indoor dining, at all restaurants, was the last straw.
In neighboring Oak Park, notices on most doors tell diners, "We're closed." That was even before the county guidelines were released in the afternoon. And just one hour later, businesses had to shut down their indoor operations.
The cry for help is clear, calls to the Small Business Development Center are up 150% compared to the same time last year.
Kyla Bryant said, "Calls, emails, inquiries, questions about what am I going to do?"
Bryant says her job is to try to help small businesses across the county not to close, in a time when no one knows what's next.
The emotional toll that takes an effect," Bryant said. "That can be very heavy when you don't have a reprieve from it."
We're told small businesses effected by COVID-19 or the looting can apply for financial aid by July 12th.
