Iowa rural towns hesitant to fully reopen despite few COVID-19 cases
Iowa business owners cautious to reopen after governor lifts stay-at-home-order
Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.
CORNING, Iowa – Religious institutions, restaurants, salons and libraries are back open in Iowa following Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proclamation that most businesses could reopen at 50-percent capacity – but many owners say they’re not sure it’s time to get back to business as usual.
It’s been a long two months for Primrose Restaurant co-owner Joel Mahr, who said he missed interacting with his customers in-person. Like so many other restaurants across the county, Mahr had to switch to limit his services to pick up and delivery only, to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
“I would love to see this place full again,” said Mahr as he reminisced on a time when the bar was at capacity with patrons. “I miss plating food on plates. Now, it’s Styrofoam or these plastic containers and it drives me nuts.”
Unlike in many other states in the country, Iowa’s proclamation included allowing restaurants to reopen for sit-down service.
Mahr’s restaurant is located in Adams County – one of four counties with no confirmed COVID-19 cases yet. Small businesses in this county of a little over 3,600 have wanted to keep it that way.
Iowa counties without confirmed COVID-19 cases as of May 18, 2020.
“Just because we don’t have any cases living here, someone can work in another community and could bring it back,” said Jessica Wilson, a master florist and owner of Lone Arranger.
Cathy Struecker, who has run a yoga studio in Marion County, which has seen fewer than 30 confirmed cases, told Fox News she’s waiting until June 1 to open her doors again for safety reasons – but she understood the frustrations of other small-business owners.
“I get it. There’s a point where it feels like, ‘OK, we need to move on with life,’ but we are still affected,” she stated.
CORONAVIRUS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Over 7 million small businesses are at risk of closing their doors forever because of COVID-19, according to a Main Street America survey.
Many economists have said small businesses in rural communities will be hit the hardest.
“In Nebraska, you have 93 counties and in Iowa, you have 99 counties. Seventy-five counties in Nebraska and probably as many as 75 in Iowa depend on small businesses,” Ernie Goss, an economics professor at Creighton University, told Fox News.
Goss added that losing small businesses in rural communities could mean the loss of funding for essential resources.
“Highways, schools, courthouses, police protection... if there are fewer and fewer businesses, then that means there’s less money to pay for that infrastructure.”
Across the country, protesters have been demanding state officials reopen their local economies in regions that have been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
But, Mahr said he will continue to do his part in curbing the spread in his community – even if the virus hasn’t landed on his doorstep yet.
“Just because we don’t have those cases doesn’t mean that our time won’t come,” Mahr added.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
