Riverside County Slides Back To Purple Tier Due To Worsening COVID-19 Numbers
RIVERSIDE (CBSLA) -- Riverside County will move back into the most restrictive tier of the state's COVID-19 monitoring system on Friday, forcing businesses to shut down indoor operations once again.
"I thought things were getting better," said one moviegoer, who didn't realize that COVID-19 cases had worsened enough in the county to prompt a setback.
Restaurants, movie theaters, gyms, and places of worship are once again prohibited from operating indoors beginning Friday at 12 p.m. These restrictions will last at least three weeks.
"The (outside) structure went back up today, and we moved all the tables back outside" Megan Kikugawa, owner of Original Pancake House.
But, the structure that turns the parking lot at the restaurant into an outdoor patio is costing the family owned business $900 for reinstallation and $1,400 per month to rent. Kikugawa said she tried other solutions that last time indoor operations were shut down, but intense wind kept blowing down other tents.
"It's been really complicated...very confusing," she said. "Obviously business suffered a lot when we went to takeout only."
She said she's hoping that they will be able to move back indoors soon, and that her customers will keep coming back.
Riverside County officials encouraged everyone to continue to get tested for COVID-19, which will help the county move back to the red tier. Right now, they are not meeting the state standard for daily tests.
