Josephine Co. added to 'extreme risk' category

GRANTS PASS, Ore.– On Tuesday morning, Josephine County was added to the long list of Oregon counties at extreme risk of covid-19.

That comes with new restrictions.

After the state’s freeze ends Wednesday, Josephine County restaurants will not be allowed to offer indoor seating.

Outdoor seating will be limited to 50 people.

Some businesses say they’re not worried about, once again, adapting to new changes.

“We are pretty financially prudent and we’ve been watching our pennies and so forth. We’ve been able to keep everyone working pretty much since March,” said owner of Jimmie’s Classic Drive-In, Terral Blalock.

Blalock said his business is ready to host customers outdoors.

“We’re super excited, the weather is suppose to be in the 50’s. Its certainly not super warm and comfortable but its a lot better than having to sit in your car,” said Blalock.

Blalock even said he’s investing in wind covers and space heaters to help customers be more comfortable in the cold.

Other restaurants like wild river grants pass, rely more on indoor seating than anything else.

“Its definitely changes the atmosphere drastically. Pushing it outside really hurts us a little bit especially with the cold weather,” said restaurant owner Clayton Leedy.

Leedy said he’s looking for ways to provide more outdoor seating options to customers to keep the business going.

But he admitted the continuous changes are proving difficult to handle.

“As a business owner you like to plan for what’s coming up and we also have a lot of employees what’s going on and we cant give them answers because we don’t always know.”