COLUMBUS, Ohio — As COVID case numbers are still high across central Ohio due to the highly contagious omicron variant, some businesses are feeling the effects, including restaurants.
“It's significantly worse than delta and it's starting to feel like 2020 again,” said John Barker, Ohio Restaurant Association.
Several restaurants have posted on social media about their need to close over the past couple of weeks, including Schmidt’s Sausage Haus.
Schmidt’s is closing for a week after members of their staff tested positive for COVID.
“Some of them might do a little bit of a takeout to keep the kitchen open, things like that, but that's about the best you're going to see out of some,” said Barker.
But some restaurants have been forced to close entirely. The Ohio Restaurant Association says of the 23,500 restaurants before the pandemic, more than 3,100 have closed their doors. And the effects of the new variant aren't going to help those who are already struggling.
“It is starting to really affect those that are already saddled with debt and bills that they've not been able to pay off since 2020, but they were chipping away at it, and you know what this is going to mean is now they have no money coming in, the bills are still there, the debt is still there, no money coming in,” Barker said.
Schmidt’s said they are planning on paying their employees while they are closed.