California has seen the permanent closure of 19,200 small businesses and the temporary closure of another 19,900 total since the pandemic first began.
Gov. Gavin Newsome has faced increasing criticism for his handling, or mishandling, of the pandemic.
It is no secret Covid has had a negative impact on small businesses. Some have said the public health outcomes of a pandemic-fueled recession promise to far outweigh the immediate threat presented by Covid.
Altogether, Yelp reports the country’s small business community has lost a collective 97,966 businesses since the pandemic’s onset.
Slate reported Democrat-controlled states have suffered more during Covid.
States with Democrat leaders have routinely imposed stricter and longer lockdowns for their economies.
The bulk of those losses have been seen in Hawaii, California and Nevada — all of which have large tourist economies. South Dakota, North Dakota and West Virginia had the fewest closures.
In New York City, the effects of a prolonged lockdown are expected to be felt for up to two years post-pandemic, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics.
The nation’s restaurant industry in particular has suffered.
National Restaurant Associated Executive Vice President of Public Affairs Sean Kennedy said the nation’s restaurants may be abandoned by Congress as it has failed to pass further legislation that would provide aid to restaurants.
"Today, the future for restaurants across the country is a lot more uncertain because Congress has walked away without passing the relief needed to survive the winter," Kennedy said.
The nation’s restaurant industry provides $899 billion to the economy and provides jobs for 15.6 Americans.
“The restaurant industry continues to be among the most impacted with an increasing number of closures – totalling 32,109 closures as of August 31, with 19,590 of these business closures indicated to be permanent (61%),” Yelp reported.
New York City recently consider locking down neighborhoods. This could mean a restaurant on one street corner could stay open, but on the next corner, in a different neighborhood, a similar restaurant could remain open.
John Cox, a former California gubernatorial candidate, told the SanFran Sun that the inconsistent treatment of businesses is a larger problem in which those designing the regulations pick and choose winners and losers.
“It is the ultimate in arbitrary administration of the law,” Cox said. “I hope that Americans look at this and draw a lesson to resolve that this type of thing should never happen again.”
See Yelp's graph of the cities and states with the most closures below.
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