Written by Nicholas Vetrisek
A judge denied a request from 4 San Diego businesses seeking to restart indoor operations.
The businesses, Cowboy Star Restaurant and Butcher Shop, Home & Away Encinitas, Fit Athletic Club, and Bear Republic, sought a temporary restraining order on the ban on indoor operations, claiming that the majority of cases don’t stem from the businesses impacted by the ban, such as restaurants and gyms.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Kenneth J. Medel heard arguments Friday on the lawsuit, and while he agreed that the restrictions have severely impacted businesses, he argued that reopening would not be worth the risk of spreading COVID-19.
In his ruling, Medel wrote, “In the court’s mind, the impact on public health of dismantling a portion of the state’s COVID-19 response designed to reduce community spread outweighs the economic harm to plaintiffs at least pending further examination of these issues in any upcoming hearing on a preliminary injunction.”
Decisions like this are destroying the economy in San Diego. The lasting impact of a decimated small business community will be far greater than that of COVID-19. Hundreds of businesses are closing and while many more are struggling to stay afloat. Billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs will be lost because of a virus that has around a 99% survival rate.
