‘Happy to be able to do business again’

WILKES-BARRE — With Gov. Tom Wolf’s temporary restrictions on bars, restaurants, gyms, and other establishments set to expire as planned on Monday, John Senunas is among business owners hoping to breathe a bit easier heading into the new year.

“We’re just happy to be able to do business again,” the owner of family-run Senunas’ Bar and Grill on North Main Street said Wednesday. “I wish it didn’t have to happen at all, but we’ll take what we could get.”

Wolf announced this latest temporary round of restrictions back on Dec. 10 as a way to mitigate rising COVID-19 numbers across Pennsylvania.

Senunas complied with the orders, as did plenty of the area’s businesses that fell under the restricted categories, but it wasn’t an easy couple of weeks.

“It’s tough with no revenue coming in,” Senunas said. “We were fortunate enough to be able to weather this, but I feel bad for a lot of the places that weren’t so lucky.”

‘A welcome relief’

State Sen. Lisa Baker Wednesday said the announcement “is a welcome relief.”

Baker, R-Lehman Township, said, the forced closures have been difficult for many businesses.

“The holiday season is traditionally a busy time, especially for the hospitality industry, which looks to earn enough to carry operations through during the slower winter months,” Baker said. “Employees and employers must be allowed to safely work, while we continue to address the challenges of this pandemic. As we look at various legislative remedies to help, I am hopeful that we can work together to provide increased support that is so greatly needed.”

Enforceability an issue?

State Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-Butler Township, said she believes that the indoor dining restrictions were lifted because enforceability of the order had become an issue.

“Frankly, many restaurants ignored the closure and benefited financially,” Toohil said. “Realistically, the staff of the Department of Agriculture and Liquor Code Enforcement were unable to cite all of the entities who were non-compliant.”

Toohil said the economic hardships caused by the governor’s recent restaurant closure order is the result of his “go-it-alone” approach.

“Tens of thousands of restaurant employees didn’t get paid this Christmas because of the governor’s order,” Toohil said. “Meanwhile, the data does not point to indoor dining at restaurants being a predominant factor in spreading COVID-19. In fact, no neighboring state has engaged in a broad-based statewide shutdown of restaurants for indoor dining like Gov. Wolf did.”

Toohil went on to say that the in-door dining restrictions also negatively impacted farmers, food suppliers, and those that service the food and hospitality industry.

“I do especially encourage our at-risk constituents to please continue recommended and safe practices.” Toohil said.

Long-term solutions needed

State Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, said the governor’s shutdowns of the restaurant and other industries made it clear that there is a need long-term solutions to help the economy recover.

“That includes ensuring that businesses and workers do not live in fear of another unexpected shutdown,” Kaufer said. “Pennsylvanians need to be able to plan and deserve to know they can reliably support themselves and their families. They cannot continue to have restrictions dropped on them without any prior notice. No amount of funding can fix these types of policies, nor can it save these struggling family-sustaining businesses.”

State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, thanked Gov. Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine for putting the needs of communities first and implementing temporary restrictions that have successfully curbed the increases in daily cases and helping manage the surge of patients in our hospitals.

“Moving forward, we must continue to listen to our health experts by doing our part to prevent the spread of this dangerous virus until enough people are able to get vaccinated,” Pashinski said.

“Please keep in mind we will not see any actual increase in our COVID numbers as a result of the activities during our Christmas and New Year holidays until weeks two through the fourth of January,” he added. “Until then, we must all follow the four lifesaving actions that can save fellow Americans, as well as help turn the economy around: wear a mask when you are with people from outside of your household, practice social distancing, wash your hands and sanitize regularly.”

‘Getting better’

With the restrictions set to expire on Monday morning at 8 a.m., Senunas’ is adjusting their hours for the forseeable future: the bar will be open from 6-11 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and noon-11 p.m. on Sundays.

Senunas expressed optimism that, with the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines earlier this month, things should improve going forward.

“More and more people will get the vaccine and hopefully we’ll all be healthy,” Senunas said. “Things will be getting better every day.”