AUSTIN, Texas — As COVID-19 patient hospitalizations continue to surge, almost to the point of triggering a rollback, restaurant owners said going from 75% capacity to 50% wouldn't have much of an effect.
According to Gov. Greg Abbott’s order, businesses must drop from 75% to 50% once COVID-19 patients exceed 15% of the area's total hospital capacity for seven consecutive days.
The Austin-area hospitalization rate surpassed 15% on Sunday, Jan. 3, and has increased since then. A rollback of capacity is anticipated on Sunday.
Sharilyn Peery, the bar manager at Brass Tap restaurant in Round Rock, said dropping restaurant capacity would be simple now that they have experience.
"We would remove more bar stools and a couple of tables to make sure that we are complying with the 50%, as well and really ramping up our curbside services and linking up with Uber and Grubhub," said Peery.
The rollback would not apply to outdoor spaces, such as patios, but social distancing rules must be followed. Bars that were allowed to open, would have to close indoor service and only offer to-go or delivery.
Other Texas cities, like Houston and Dallas, already have the tighter restriction in place. Anna Tauzin, the chief revenue officer for the Texas Restaurant Association, said most of those restaurants have not been affected by the capacity limit because of social distancing.
"When you think about the social distancing guidelines that still have to be in place, most restaurants around the state are not able to get higher than about 55% capacity inside their stores anyway," said Tauzin. "Most of them are not at 75% right now, so going to 50% is not that huge of a difference.
If we continue to see COVID-19 patients take up 15% or more of the total capacity of Austin area hospitals through Saturday, the Texas Department of Emergency Management will send a letter to the county judges. That would trigger the rollback.
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