COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – It was reported during Thursday’s Community Health Agency Board of Health meeting that staff from Environmental Public Health Services conducted 49 enforcement inspections during December which were largely attributed to three facilities that were found to be in violation of the state’s indoor dining ban.
Due to a surge of COVID-19 cases, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services banned indoor dining at restaurants and bars in the middle of November.
The ban is being lifted Monday but restaurants can only be at 25 percent capacity and they must follow COVID-19 protocols.
Restaurant owners around Michigan who provided indoor dining during the ban mostly said they had to do it in order to survive.
Director of Environmental Health Paul Andriacchi did not identify the local violators of the ban in his report to the Board but according to documents in the meeting packet, they were the Goodie Shop in Coldwater, the Quincy Diner and Spangler’s Family Restaurant in Jonesville.
Final outcomes have not been determined in two of the cases because of appeals. Andriacchi indicated the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and other state officials are overwhelmed with complaints.
The Quincy Diner posted on its Facebook page January 9 that due to the Attorney General’s orders, they would only be able to do takeout orders adding they just could not afford the thousands of dollars it was going to take to try and stay open for dining in. They are planning to start offering dine in service again on Tuesday.
It is interesting that your article included a photo of a restaurant where social distancing is taking place. Why not show one of the Goodie Shop where guests are sitting very close together in a relatively small area?