In all likelihood, there’s nary a soul who isn’t eager for the business environment to return to “normal.”
Suffice it to say that “normal,” in our estimation, would be free of restrictions based on a pandemic concerns so that business owners can navigate just the normal hazards of day-today operations.
But we’re not there yet.
That’s why a judge’s recent ruling that protecting public health outweighs the financial interests of Arkansas nightclub owners is probably the right call.
A group of bars and restaurants in or near Fayetteville sued to overturn a curfew, issued in November by Arkansas Secretary of Health José Romero, that forced the liquor-serving businesses to close at 11 p.m., three hours before they’re required to close during nonpandemic times.
The curfew hits the businesses as they enter their peak, and thus most profitable, operating hours, according to the lawsuit.
It’s not that anyone should be thrilled with the forced closure of alcohol-serving establishments. But if the question is whether the medically trained secretary of health, operating on the best scientific evidence available, or people in the business of hospitality ought to be in charge of public health decision-making, that really doesn’t seem all that complicated, does it?
People die from covid-19. Some people suffer greatly from becoming infected. Does it make sense that a public health agency could regulate restaurants to ensure they’re not delivering food poisoning but it can’t establish rules to stop transmission of an illness that has so far killed nearly 5,000 Arkansans?
One could certainly argue whether the curfew should start at 11 p.m., but is there any evidence that becoming infected at 11:01 p.m. is any better, or less likely, than at 11 p.m.? If the state doesn’t have the power to establish an early curfew in a pandemic, how can it be argued the state has the power to require bars to close at 2 a.m. during normal times?
Is the potential for spread greater at 11 p.m.? The bar owners themselves argue the hours after 11 p.m. are their peak opportunity to make money, which translates into more customers, inviting scenarios in which inhibitions (i.e., the probability of following covid-19 precautions) tend to diminish as a night wears on.
We hope the data soon prove to Romero and his advisers that these important businesses can return to normal hours. The curfew is set to expire Wednesday. Maybe we’ll hear something today in Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s weekly covid-19 press conference. Maybe the availability of vaccines will help eventually get there.
The state’s duty to protect the public health, in the meantime, takes precedence over late-night entertainment.
WHAT’S THE POINT?
The state must have authority to control the hours of businesses whose operations could promote
the spread of covid-19.
"Hour" - Google News
February 02, 2021 at 08:56PM
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The witching hour - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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