More than 110,000 US restaurants close amid COVID-19 pandemic

Washington, Dec 8: Over 110,000 restaurants across the United States have been closed due to the massive spike in Coronavirus cases across the country, according to the National Restaurant Association, as of Monday.

"The vast majority of permanently closed restaurants were well-established businesses and fixtures in their communities. On average these restaurants had been in business for 16 years," Sean Kennedy, executive vice president for public affairs with the association, wrote on Monday in a letter to congressional leadership, as quoted by Xinhua.

Only 48 percent of these former restaurant owners say it is likely they will remain in the industry in any form in the months or years ahead," Kennedy wrote further. He quoted a survey of 6,000 restaurant operators and 250 supply chain businesses, which was conducted last month.

The executive vice president for public affairs with the association said that the survey findings "make it very clear" that more than 500,000 restaurants of every business type -- franchise, chain, and independent -- are "in an unprecedented economic decline", the Chinese state media reported further.

Kennedy noted that the lack of progress in COVID-19 relief talks among the lawmakers in the US Congress has led too many restaurant operators to give up waiting for relief and closing down for good.

"Since our last update to you, less than three months ago, an additional 10,000 restaurants have closed nationwide," he said and added, "For every month that passes without a solution from Congress, thousands of more restaurants will close their doors for good."

Citing the National Restaurant Association, Xinhua reported that 58 percent of chain and independent restaurants expect continued furloughs and layoffs for at least the next three months.

As cases in the US surge across the country, 58 percent of chain and independent restaurants expect continued furloughs and layoffs for at least the next three months.

The US Chamber of Commerce, in a letter dated Monday warned Congress that a failure to enact a meaningful pandemic package "risks a double-dip recession that will permanently shutter small businesses across the nation and leave millions of Americans with no means to support themselves and their families."

The United States continues to be the most affected country by the virus with its total cases nearing 15 million. As per the latest update by Johns Hopkins University, the US has reported 14,933,847 cases and 283,631 deaths, the most in the world. As many as 5,714,557 have recovered from the virus across the US.