SAN DIEGO — California's announcement that San Diego County will remain in the red tier is good news for small businesses, but owners fear that the emotional roller coaster ride they've been on is far from over.
“We can't close again!” said Victoria Ho behind a mask.
Ho is the owner of Lovely Nails and Spa in Chula Vista. Ho spent six years building her business, but customers went away during her state-ordered COVID-19 closures and she said about half still haven't returned.
If she has to close again, she doesn't know what she'll do. The bills are adding up.
"You know, in America, it's not everything for free,” Ho said. “Everything we need is bills. At the end of the month, we need to pay bills."
If San Diego County had been bumped up to the purple tier, the new closures would have included nail salons, indoor worship services, indoor gyms and indoor dining at restaurants.
"I'm thankful,” said Adam Sparks, owner of Mangia Italiano on Third. “I mean it's tough enough what we're going through as it is.”
Sparks thinks Governor Gavin Newsom needs to put more weight on the mental toll the closures are having on people's health.
“There's an increase in alcohol," said Sparks. "There's an increase in overdoses. There's an increase of suicides, divorces - finances are connected to a lot of well-being of how we look at life.”
He fears 60% of restaurants in the county will end up closing for good, especially after the first of the year when landlords can start evicting businesses for not paying rent.
“You take away hope - what do you have left?" Adam asked rhetorically. “People just give up and walk away, which I've known people to do that. I know people that their entire life savings are wrapped up in a restaurant and they just walk away because they had no more hope.”
If San Diego county did drop to the purple tier on Tuesday, the closures would have remained in effect for at least three weeks. California reevaluates county data each Tuesday, so San Diego County will be reevaluated on Tuesday, Sept. 29. Consequently, the earliest the county could move into Tier 1 would be Oct. 6.