Delta variant Hawaiian restaurants and COVID restrictions hit hard

HONOLULU (KHON2) – The Hawaii Restaurant Association (HRA) surveyed restaurant owners about the effects of the Delta variant and found the results were worse than expected.

The survey found that in September and October 2021, 80% of the restaurants surveyed had their Decline in sales by 30% or more; 37% have lost more than half of their sales.

According to the HRA, 192 restaurant owners answered the two surveys in early September and then last week; They said that many of the restaurants surveyed had more than one location.

On Wednesday October 27th, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi gave the go-ahead for many large indoor events to resume from Wednesday, November 3rd. However, restaurants, bars, and gyms still have capacity restrictions due to government regulations.

“We are much more confident that we will return to full capacity and continue to properly manage the ongoing public health crisis,” said Ryan Tanaka, the new chair of the Hawaii Restaurant Association.

Restaurants said the wait times were sometimes overwhelming during peak tourism with a 50% occupancy rate.

“Once the wait is 90 minutes or two hours, they don’t stay around – they have something to do,” said Michael Skedeleski, Director of Operations at Eggs ‘N’ Things.

Skedeleski said having tables three feet apart instead of six would cut wait times.

“People who ran away because the wait was over an hour could sit down now,” added Skedeleski. “Well, I would say numerically we might get 40 to 50% more tables, but sales would probably increase by at least 30%.”

The catering industry is also losing staff. The survey found that 19% of restaurants said they had lost 30% of their employees. Restaurant owners said their employees moved to the mainland where the stores were open and others didn’t want to get the COVID vaccine or take a weekly test, which means: required under Safe Access Oahu.

“In my particular case, I’ve had to take people off again, and some of them don’t want to go back to work. They found other things; they don’t have to be vaccinated to work in other industries, ”said Maples.

Maples also noted that the purpose of Safe access Oahu should increase vaccination rates against coronaviruses; Now that they are up, the hospitality industry shouldn’t have to suffer.

“Our government officials said if we were at 70% all mandates would be dropped. Ok what happened Why doesn’t that happen? “Said Ahorn.” Someone should say, ‘You made the promise and you don’t keep it? Why aren’t we there?’ If we don’t cut all mandates, then you should give us a lot of leeway, because we’ve worked really hard. “

Restaurants were working hard to get their employees vaccinated or take weekly tests, according to Maples.

“We worked really hard to get our people on board and do the right thing, but still keep the vaccine above us. It’s hard to swallow, ”said Maples.

The HRA wants the capacity constraints to be lifted ahead of the busy vacation rush. Maples said many restaurants would rather wait long when they were 100% busy due to staffing issues.

“That means I’m busy; it means my seats are full and that means that I am making money or at least having cash flow, ”explained Maples of problems in restaurants.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green said the risk of COVID in restaurants is low when people confirm they are vaccinated.

“It is important that people’s economic survival is also taken into account because that is their well-being. I’ve heard of many people who suffer and suffer from depression – all of these things are relevant. So we have to move towards the holidays just to know about our science, and science says it’s probably okay, ”Green added.