By J1 Reporter Quinn Findley

With the outbreak of COVID-19, small businesses, restaurants in particular, have had to remodel their methods of selling to help stop the spread of the disease. The first restaurant restriction stated the maximum number of people at a gathering could be 10. However, a couple days later, on March 26, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts announced, “Bars and restaurants are not allowed to have dine-in. They can only do carry-out.” 

With the uncertainty on how to efficiently deal with this pandemic, rules are constantly changing, causing small business owners stress.

The health code regulations have drastically increased. If employees have any slight symptoms of Corona, they are to be sent home immediately (however, it’s advised that employers are sensitive to the issue and are flexible with payroll if this happens). The routine disinfecting time of all contactable surfaces has been increased and gloves must be worn for all tasks (CDC.gov). 

“Everybody has to wear gloves and change them after every transaction. Most of all, we’re washing our hands constantly,” said Mary (Joseph) Dailey, owner of Tasty Pizza. To help stop the spread of COVID-19, she and her workers have taken on many new health precautions.

One of her employees, junior Bridget McKay, agrees with her. “We have to change our gloves constantly, after every task,” McKay said. 

Even with the restriction to eat inside the restaurant and dine in, many customers have still been ordering take out. She hopes that the laws do not grow stricter to the point where restaurants will be forced to close. 

Similar to Dailey, Brian Langbehn, owner of the ice cream shop Coneflower Creamery, is facing the same issues. He said, “To prevent the spread of it, we aren’t allowing anyone other than employees in the shop. We’ve been doing call-in orders and running them out to cars.” 

 In order to help the community, please consider ordering take out for dinner (or dessert) sometime soon to help out the small businesses in Omaha!  

Note: The Marian community has many families in the restaurant business. Consider supporting one of these local Omaha restaurants during this difficult time. If you are a part of the Marian community and would like your restaurant added to this list, please email mruesch@omahamarian.org.