Over the past few days, Governor Charlie Baker has talked about the "surge" coming to Massachusetts, or to be more specific, the quick rise in coronavirus hospitalizations that is soon expected across the state. As of now, it appears that this peak in the number of patients might come between April 10 and April 20, with Baker saying that models show anywhere between 47,000 and 172,000 cases in total. Considering that approximately 9,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed so far, the next few weeks could see even more people sheltering in place and only going out for necessities.
So what does this mean for restaurants in the local area? If the surge is as bad as the models predict, the lack of business could get even more serious toward the end of next week and stay that way until later this month, which means that takeout--be it picking up food inside restaurants or curbside pickup--could see even more of a dropoff. Deliveries, on the other hand, might be unaffected or could even increase since few people will be going out at all, though it could conceivably take a hit as well if people decide to stock up on food from grocery stores over the next week or so in preparation of the surge.
Because there are so many unknowns right now--including exactly how bad the surge might be--it remains to be seen how much worse business might be for local dining spots, but there is a good chance that things will indeed get worse, at least for a week or two. Because of this, an idea that first came up when the restaurant shutdown began last month might be even more important than ever now, and that's the purchasing of gift cards. For some, this could be the only source of income if takeout/delivery drops to near zero (and this goes without saying for those restaurants that have completely closed for now). And as was mentioned many times by restaurant owners and workers early on, for those who receive gift cards, it's best not to use them the minute the restaurants start opening again because the dining spots may be cash-starved at that point and using gift cards won't give them any much-needed cash.
More updates on the surge will be surely be on the way from Governor Baker over the coming days, so tune in to his press conferences if you can.
by Marc Hurwitz (Also follow us on Twitter at @hiddenboston)
[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]
