Reopen Fresno before coronavirus gets contained? The consumer will decide that fate
Let’s say Gavin Newsom waved his gubernatorial wand tomorrow and declared every restaurant, bar, coffee shop, nightclub, barber shop, hairdresser, nail salon, clothing boutique, movie theater, gym, yoga studio and sports venue open for business.
Yes, this is a totally hypothetical situation. Newsom isn’t doing that. Still, how would you react? Would you immediately rush out the door and resume your daily activities like before they were upended by coronavirus?
Of course not. Even though you may trust Newsom’s judgment in these matters, it still wouldn’t feel safe. We’ve been too long in quarantine. Our hands are cracked and dry from washing. Caution has become our credo.
Which is why the increasingly heated debate, both locally and statewide, over what businesses should be allowed to reopen and how soon barely grazes the point. Because without buy-in from the most essential economic component of them all — the average consumer — it’s mainly sound and fury signifying nothing.
Tell me something: Right now, would you feel comfortable sidling up to a bar, ordering a drink and feeling your arm graze against the person seated next to you?
Or lifting weights in a room with sweaty strangers?
Or having a hairdresser place their hands on your skull while working the scissors?
I can see you shaking your head.
Quite simply, most of us aren’t ready to dive back in. Not without scientific data and assurances from qualified experts that COVID-19 is no longer a threat to our health and the health of our families, or is at least greatly diminished.
That’s reflected in a recent Gallup poll where 71% of Americans responded they’d “wait to see what happens with the coronavirus before resuming” their normal activities once restrictions on businesses are lifted and schools start to reopen.
And in a Pew Survey that found 66% of Americans are more concerned that state governments will lift restrictions too quickly rather than not quickly enough.
What about California? Three-fourths of them support shelter in place “as long as needed,” according to a poll conducted by the California Health Care Foundation.
Just because someone starts ringing a dinner bell doesn’t mean we’ll all line up to be fed.
Video paints unappetizing picture
Speaking of being fed, the Facebook video posted by Pismo’s Coastal Grill owner Dave Fansler made the prospect of going out to eat post-lockdown look totally unappetizing.
This is not meant as a criticism of Fansler’s desire to reopen his restaurants ASAP or any of the safety protocols depicted in the video. Always better to have a plan than to not have one. But the lasting impression may not be what he intended.
I enjoy going out to eat as much as anyone. More than the actual food, it’s the experience of being in a crowded place, savoring the atmosphere, feeling comfortable and relaxed.
No offense, but my idea of a comfortable, relaxed evening doesn’t involve a sitting in a sparsely filled, Lysol-scented room or patio — half the tables removed for social distancing — and eating something cooked by someone wearing a face mask and served by someone else wearing a face shield.
Is that a waiter bringing my order, or a welder?
Honestly, I’d rather just get takeout. Even after seven weeks of being a shut-in.
What’s it going to take for people like me to drop our guards and venture out again with some degree of the comfort, wallets and purses at the ready?
The first thing would be data showing the rate of local COVID-19 cases has slowed or plateaued. So far, we haven’t seen that. Quite the opposite, in fact. Monday and Tuesday represented the largest two-day uptick since the pandemic began.
Testing capacity still short
Second would be an indication we are testing enough people, both those showing symptoms and those who aren’t, to have an accurate picture of the virus’ foothold in our community.
By all indications, we are not. While it’s unlikely severe cases or mass outbreaks are going undetected, Fresno County’s current testing capacity of between 500 to 700 per day falls well below recommended guidelines for a population of nearly 1 million.
“I know we have testing challenges,” interim county public health officer Rais Vohra said Wednesday. “I know we’re not testing everyone who would like to get tested, and we’re not testing everyone that’s symptomatic in a timely fashion.”
Third would be contact tracing, so that people who may have been exposed can be warned without delay. Health officials are doing some of this, just not enough.
If that’s being overly cautious or even a tad paranoid, so be it. We cautious types greatly outnumber those waving protest signs or crying government overreach.
I have no quarrel with business owners eager to reopen. No, it doesn’t make sense that someone can buy a sofa at Costco but not at a locally owned store. But until customers feel safe enough to return to their old haunts and habits, the argument is largely moot.
And for a large chunk of us, we’re not there yet.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 9:50 AM.
