Businesses cautious lifting COVID restrictions

On Friday, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted on many businesses effective Sunday.

On Monday, a number of area businesses said that they are being cautious about easing the measures they have put in place to protect customers.

'It's too new,” Victor Akgul, owner of Frontier Family Restaurant in Washington, said of the governor's changes. 'We are not making any big changes.

'The staff will continue to wear masks. They feel safer that way.”

Akgul added that he does plan on opening up more capacity in the restaurant.

Dave Sorrell, owner of Unc & Neph's in Washington, is planning on opening up more capacity.

'We've added a little more capacity, but we're still keeping some tables spread out,” Sorrell said. 'We're at 75-80 percent capacity.”

He said that the servers will continue to wear masks, and patrons will be encouraged to wear masks.

The Pressbox Grill and Bar in Mt. Pleasant is not planning any changes.

'We're still doing everything we've been doing for the comfort and safety of our customers,” Chelsea Branch said. 'We've kept things a half capacity.”

Branch said that they started wearing masks at the Pressbox before they were mandated.

'It's a comfort thing for our customers,” she said.

Lisa Miller of Riverside Family Restaurant 3 in Fairfield said that they are not making any changes there either.

'We're still doing social distancing and wearing masks,” Miller said.

Miller said that they want to remain especially cautious because of the new variants of the coronavirus have been discovered nearby.

The State Theatre in Washington plans to keep all current policies in place.

'We're keeping our maximum occupancy at 60,” State Theatre Manager Kaylin Vibbard said. 'We're encouraging social distancing in the lobbies and hallways as well.”

Vibbard said that COVID numbers have plateaued recently, and that it is important to take precautions to keep the numbers from rising again.

'It's still highly important we keep up with mask use and social distancing,” she said.

For several months, there have been limits on the public gatherings, which have hit funeral homes especially hard.

'In this profession, handshakes and hugs are almost required,” Arnold Weirup of Behner Funeral Home in Fairfield said. 'Normal grieving is not normal during these times.”

Weirup said he is still trying to figure out how to best conduct services.

'We will probably leave it up to each family to decide how they want to do it,” Weirup said. 'I don't want to make those choices for them.

'It's going to be a discussion we have with each family.”

Charles Yoder of Yoder-Powell Funeral Home in Kalona and Olson-Powell Memorial Chapel in Mt. Pleasant, said that the lifted restrictions provide some new flexibility.

'It gives funeral homes flexibility to chance the way things have been,” Yoder said. 'Every circumstance will be different.

'It's kind of a wait-and-see as to how that works with the families we're serving.”

He said that he still plans to encourage people to utilize masks and social distancing.

'We'll see if the community is ready to go back to what used to be normal,” Yoder said. 'With some, there will be hesitation for a while, while others will have no hesitation.”