BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (KDVR) — In the shadow of the start of ski season in Colorado’s high country, workers and business owners are calling out the state for unequal treatment when it comes to COVID restrictions.
Summit County is one of more than a dozen Colorado counties moving into the “red” level of the state’s COVID dial. For restaurants, it means an end to indoor dining, with the ability for takeout and outdoor dining with only members of a single household.
“You shut them all down at once, seems arbitrary,” said Luke Ahrenholtz who works at a restaurant in Frisco.
The Problem Solvers dug into the numbers, and did find that indoor dining was the leading cause for outbreaks in Summit County, with eight total. But members of the service industry say those places should have to be shut down, and not the entire industry.
“I think there is some favoritism with the town and the state of who they’re shutting down, and I don’t know what we did to deserve it,” said Savannah Wahaus who organized a protest in downtown Breckenridge Monday.
Tery Barbu owns four restaurants in the county and marched down Main Street with dozens more in the industry. He points out that the ski resorts in the county are still bringing in thousands of people from all over the country.
“This town is absolutely packed. We’re gonna lose close to one million dollars in the next 30 days. All of my staff is basically not working,” Barbu said. “They’re allowing skiing to happen, they’re allowing lodging, they’re allowing retail and they really think this is going to make one drop of difference?”
For employees like Nathalie Perez, the real concern is facing so much uncertainty with crippling restrictions.
“How much do you essentially tip on a to go? Is it gonna pay my bills?” Perez said. “The fact that I might not be able to pay my bills this month, there’s a bunch of restrictions., it’s the holidays and there’s no certainty.”