GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Restaurants still face uncertainty during COVID-19
The Seward community has rallied around Birchwood Cafe, sending letters, emails, and posting inspirational comments to the restaurant's social media accounts. Even so, Tracy Singleton’s sales are still down 60% since the COVID-19 crisis emerged almost two months ago. Although Singleton has remained positive and says she’s committed to staying open, other restaurants in Minneapolis have decided to shut their doors for good. Within the past week, for example, both Muddy Waters in Lyn-Lake and The Bachelor Farmer and Marvel Bar in the North Loop have announced they will not be re-opening. Eric Dayton, the co-owner of The Bachelor Farmer and Marvel Bar, posted on his website that the restaurant was “already walking a fine line before COVID-19, and given that no one knows how long the impacts of this pandemic will last, or what the new normal will be, I do not see a viable path forward.” Hospitality Minnesota – which represents not only restaurants but also hotels, campgrounds, and resorts – shared some of those same difficult sentiments at a news conference with state officials on Monday afternoon, saying that in a recent survey half of restaurants face closure in the next two months if things don't turn around.
On Monday, Governor Tim Walz hinted at a possible announcement this week that elective surgeries may resume. This possible announcement comes as the state is reporting a new high of COVID-19 cases in Minnesota. There are now 166 patients in intensive care, and nine more deaths announced Monday. Minnesota's death toll from the virus stands at 428. And about 1,000 new cases were test-confirmed over the week -- bringing the total number of confirmed cases to just over 7,200. In more than half of these cases, patients have recovered enough to no longer require isolation. However, one group opposes resuming elective surgeries at this time. Jamie Gulley, President of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota wrote in the following statement: "Minnesota is a place that prides ourselves on our world-class medical institutions, but the reality is that right now we are failing thousands of workers and residents in our nursing homes and long term care facilities as we grapple with COVID-19. There are nursing home workers in Minnesota in facilities with confirmed COVID-19 cases who are using rain ponchos and paper masks because we simply don't have enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for what we are facing."
The comparisons have been unmistakable. COVID-19, more than one commentator has said, is our nation's greatest crisis since 9-11. Bridging the gap between those two seismic events is Bloomington Jefferson High School senior Shannon Loughrey. Between the collapse of the first twin tower and the second, on September 11, 2001, Shannon entered the world. Her parents Anne and Sean did their best to celebrate their youngest daughter’s birthdays on a date when others grieved. On her first birthday, Shannon was featured on the front page of the Minneapolis StarTribune as a 9-11 baby. Shannon says the date of her birth is always in the back of her mind, particularly in school when the subject turns to 9-11. Now, Shannon and the other babies of the 9-11 era are the high school seniors whose plans for proms and graduations have been interrupted by another national crisis, as coronavirus cancels ceremonies across the country.
