As the Covid-19 Delta variant surges in Vermont, outbreaks have pushed businesses to close their doors. Some onlookers say this is just part of the new normal as the state moves through the ups and downs of the pandemic.
Lantman’s Market is among the latest examples of businesses grappling with the effects of the surge. The market, which is the only major grocery store in Hinesburg, closed its doors two hours earlier than usual on Sunday and will stay closed to shoppers for at least a week, through Aug. 16, according to a subsequent Facebook post.
“As we know, the coronavirus is ever present in our lives and very recently Lantman’s Market has been affected by that presence,” Lantman’s operators said in the post. “This was an extremely difficult decision as so many of our customers rely on Lantman’s Market for their grocery needs. However, given the circumstances we truly believe it is the right course of action.”
In an email to VTDigger, Lantman’s owner Kyle Busier said closing for a week “significantly impacts the bottom line.”
“However, in an unprecedented situation like this, the health and safety of our employees and customers outweigh any financial loss,” he wrote.
Lantman’s is compensating its employees while the store is closed, he said. He did not respond to additional questions.
Lantman’s is not the only business that has shut down because of Covid-19.
Stowe Cider, which is usually bustling with mountain goers and other customers on weekends, lay quiet for several days after learning on July 29 that an employee had tested positive for Covid-19, according to a post on its Facebook page.
Additional employee testing yielded only negative Covid-19 results, according to another post announcing the cidery’s reopening on Aug. 2. Management also announced new masking rules for Stowe Cider staff who interact with customers “given the recent increase in Covid-19 cases in and around our country.”
The Vermont chain Mad Taco made a preventative decision to close its restaurants to indoor dining. “Due to the rising number of COVID cases in our area, and the reality that breakthrough cases are more of a real thing than previously thought, we have decided to move back to outdoor dining and pick-up only at all locations,” the chain’s operators wrote on their website.
Covid-19 case numbers have taken a turn for the worse.
Four Covid-19 outbreaks — instances where three or more individuals with Covid-19 are connected to a specific facility or event — were reported on Friday, according to Ben Truman, a spokesperson for the Vermont Department of Health.
The department recorded 112 new cases on Saturday. That’s the highest daily count since April 29.
Truman said the increase in outbreaks and business closures is expected. “If you’re seeing more cases, you will see more outbreaks, more situations,” he said.
Cathy Davis, president of the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce, agreed that “rising case numbers will transfer into other areas of our lives.”
Davis said that these recent closures did not strike her as particularly unusual, noting that businesses have been making hard decisions to ensure safety and to keep their businesses running for the past year and half.
“Short business closures have been happening sporadically over the past six to eight months,” she said. “Businesses close. Everyone gets tested. It’s part of the new normal in terms of keeping everyone safe.”
Still, Davis said she’s worried the next few months will bring new challenges and that yet again, businesses will have to roll with the punches.
“Am I concerned that we might have to shift again? Yes,” she said. “The next few months, unfortunately, we’ll have to learn some new tricks in terms of how to deal and keep the doors open.”
