SAN MATEO, Calif. (KRON) – A week after entering the red tier, businesses and county leaders in San Mateo County are preparing to enter into the orange tier, which will bring even fewer restrictions.
Serving food to go has become a common staple for bars and wineries across California to stay open during the pandemic.
In the orange tier, bars and wineries would not be forced to serve food to go in order to stay open.
“I feel happiness, joy, and happy to see the business finally open after a year of lockdown,” Karla Flores said.
For the third day in a row, the doors are open at Amour Amour Wine and Tapas in San Mateo.
For a year, the wine wasn’t flowing, and the lights were turned off because of COVID restrictions.
Like so many others, Karla Flores says the shutdown brought a number of challenges but with the county now in the red reopening tier, and looking into move into the orange tier next. She’s hopeful that the business will begin to flow in again.
“Finally, we can come back to normal, and finally we can have more business to survive and get the situation better. Hopefully, the business will get better as well,” Flores said.
County leaders say COVID cases are falling rapidly, which is allowing the county to move up in the reopening roadmap.
In the orange tier, wineries, and bars would not be forced to serve food to go — Something Flores says her business couldn’t do.
“The food that we make is homemade, and it’s fresh. So it’s tough to keep it fresh for a long time,” Flores said.
Indoor capacities for restaurants would also jump from 25-to-50-percent. Flores hopes the forward progress of reopening can continue for a while.
“Hopefully we will not lock down again because we need to survive and make every get better,” Flores said.
Many businesses are looking forward to moving into the next phase and bringing in more customers.
The county could get the green light for the orange tier as early as next Wednesday.