Golden State Today

Yelp reported that 55 percent of businesses previously listed as temporarily closed due to COVID-19 are now marked as permanently closed, according to Forbes.

Forbes described the statistic as "shocking" and noted that many establishments are struggling to stay afloat amid coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

States with the most closures are those hardest hit by the pandemic, including Texas, California and New York. The city with the most permanently closed businesses is Las Vegas, due to a major drop in tourism, Forbes reported.

Forbes also reported 26,160 restaurant and 26,119 retail closures, and that only 24 percent of businesses closed since April have reopened.

Since June, the number of temporarily closed businesses has decreased by 14 percent.

Yelp noted in its report that consumer activity on the website saw an uptick as the number of coronavirus cases increased.

“As people began resuming common pre-pandemic activities across states like Florida, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, Georgia and others—specifically frequenting restaurants, bars and nightlife, and gyms—a clear spike in Covid-19 cases within those locations followed,” the Yelp report stated..

Yelp's vice president of data science, Justin Norman, told Forbes that businesses needed to take advantage of any government help available.

“While we can’t say for sure what the trend will look like, we do know that businesses face a tough road ahead of them. Businesses will need to focus on effectively communicating the health and safety protocols they’re taking, continuing to innovate on new ways to interact with and serve customers, as well as take advantage of any government assistance that’s available," Norman said.

The report noted that, as of July 10, more than 132,500 businesses had been marked as closed. Forbes also reported that the Yelp report stated that as the pandemic continued, search interests decreased for grocery stores and increased for alcohol-related businesses such as vineyards and breweries.