Crook County restaurants upset after missing return to indoor dining by 1 COVID case

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- On Tuesday, Gov. Kate Brown announced that 10 Oregon counties had moved from the Extreme Risk category to High Risk, allowing them to resume limited indoor dining, entertainment and recreational activities starting Friday.

Crook County however was not one of the counites cleared in opening up its businesses indoors, all due to just one COVID-19 case -- a total of 60 over two weeks, when the limit for mid-sized counties is 59.

And that close call upset some businesses even more than before -- so much that some put out large signs that read "Brown You're Killing Me."

"We were totally in shock. There’s no way we saw this coming,” said Jim Roths, the owner of Club Pioneer and Dillon's Grill in Prineville.

Roths said the governor needs to re-evaluate the guidance the Oregon Health Authority has in place, because he believes that there is not a one-size-fits-all system in reopening guidelines.  

"I think the county has been doing everything it can," he said. "I think what needs to change is our governor needs to re-look at this metric system and see how it fits each community. Come down here, walk our streets. We're a small rural community here. It is safe to be in Prineville."

Crook County Judge Seth Crawford also urged the governor to consider letting county businesses reopen.

"We as a county have done a really good job in getting money out to the community," Crawford said. "But the people of Cook County don't want money from the government. They want to be able to work. They want to be able to take care of their customers and be a productive member of our community and the rest of our country."

Other business owners share the same frustration. Shelly Nelson was expecting to have Sons and Beers, one of the two restaurants she manages, open up as well.

“This weekend, we are supposed to be getting hit with snow," Nelson said. “We were looking forward to having that 25% capacity inside. And then, of course, when we didn't get lowered, there's not really going to be a lot of people out there in the cold, in the snow, who are going to be here to support us."

It will be another two weeks before Oregon counties will get reevaluated, to see if their risk levels can improve.