COVID-19: Residents, business owners get in last-minute tasks before new shutdowns

Residents across the Bay Area spent Sunday preparing for weeks
of staying in place with a last-minute rush to get in holiday
shopping, a trip to the salon or a final meal at a restaurant, just
hours before tougher new restrictions went into effect to help slow
the latest COVID-19 surge.

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Whether it was seeing Santa or grabbing one more box of
chocolates as a gift, many people were taking care of as many
pre-holiday tasks as possible in anticipation of lockdowns that
were taking effect late Sunday and early Monday for millions of
residents across the state.

For much of Southern California and the Central Valley, the
measures were guaranteed under new rules unveiled by Gov. Gavin
Newsom earlier in the week, demanding stricter rules as hospital
and ICU capacity grew dangerously low. In the Bay Area, local
leaders had announced plans to start their own shelter-at-home
rules, though the region had not yet met state benchmarks.

In Contra Costa, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, the
lockdown was set to begin at 10 p.m. Sunday, while it would start
two hours later in Alameda County and at midday Tuesday in Marin
County. Restrictions are set to remain in place through at least
Jan. 4.

“It could be the last day of the (holiday) season,” said
Steve Kroninger, who has worked as a shopping-mall Santa for the
past 13 years.

Kroninger, 66, of El Granada, greeted kids and families Sunday
at the Stanford Shopping Center. Two of his young admirers Sunday
were Parker and Peyton Pachkofsky, ages 5 and 3, respectively.

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Mother Eileen Pachkofsky, a Palo Alto nurse, was not taking any
chances with being stuck at home later. She brought her children to
the mall’s holiday display,m dressed for a Hans Christian
Andersen Christmas tale.

“We came for Santa,” Pachkofsky said. “There is no
guarantee. We’re not taking a chance of losing” their holiday
photos.

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The state’s restrictions require Californians in affected
regions to stay at home as much as possible to limit mixing with
other households, which public health officers say can lead to
COVID-19 spread. The guidelines limit travel to critical services
and restrict outdoor activities for exercise.

Although the Bay Area still has the most ICUs available among
the state’s five regions, local officials said Friday they did
not want to wait until reaching the state’s number before taking
action.

“It’s sort of like waiting to put the brakes on when
you’re about to go over the cliff,†Santa Clara County
Executive Jeff Smith said. “If you’re going to get the public
health benefit, you have to do it now.â€

Ashley Flowers, general manager of Insignia Hair Salon in
downtown Walnut Creek, spent Sunday servicing as many clients as
possible. She said the salon’s appointments slots were all booked
by midday.

Flowers, who celebrated her 37th birthday working, said the
salon opened Sunday because of demand before the lockdown. She said
some of her stylists planned to work until the 10 p.m.
shutdown.

“We are trying our best to accommodate all of our clients,â€
said Flowers, who added that the stylists worked late Saturday and
opened early Sunday.

Flowers said the latest action is painful because December
usually is the salon’s busiest month.

“It was the month we were going to make up for the month we
couldn’t work,†she said, referring to the lockdown in the
spring that closed salons and barbershops, among other businesses
considered nonessential. “It is impossible with the shutdown to
make ends meet.â€

Flowers did not plan to work through the evening Sunday. She and
her friends planned to eat out for a final time before restaurants
had to revert to take-out-only because of the new rules.

With 10 locations across the South Bay, Bill’s Cafe braced for
difficult days ahead as officials shut down indoor and outdoor
dining.

George Zafiris, one of three brothers who own Bill’s Cafe, sat
Sunday inside a small office at the franchise’s Santa Clara
location working out the new schedule for next week based on the
staffing he expected that he would need from to-go orders, he
said.

Zafiris said he fielded many calls from customers confused about
the new restrictions, with many expressing fear over the virus,
even before the closure was official.

Zafiris said he hopes those phone orders pick up during the
lockdown because “without them, we are dead meat.â€

Cameron Larsen, of Palo Alto, stood in a short line at the
See’s Candies shop at the Stanford mall. See’s, he said, closed
during the last shutdown, and he didn’t intend to miss out on
some favorite sweets and gifts again.

Larsen, 48, said he planned to buy a box of mixed chocolates,
his traditional Christmas gift for his wife.

He said, though, that the latest shutdown didn’t frustrate him
as it has many other people.

“Let’s do what we need to do and just get it over with,â€
Larsen said.

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