Colorado restaurant owner defends public health violations by reopening

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A Colorado restaurant owner defends his decision, violating the governor's "safer at home" order and reopening food service to hundreds of customers. He said "people want freedom".

The county health department has ordered the restaurant to be closed immediately and has threatened to revoke its business license if the owner continues to violate the order.

Jesse Arellano and his wife [April] opened their Castle Rock restaurant, a C&C breakfast and Korean cuisine on Mother's Day. They did this in defiance of the order of Democratic Governor Jared Polis, demanding that restaurants maintain restaurant services to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Community media reporter Nick Puckett of Colorado filmed a popular video on Sunday showing dozens of patrons entering the restaurant. Almost all the clients of the video have neither mask nor social advice.

The Tres County Health Unit [TCHD], which is responsible for implementing Governor Rockwell's order, ordered C&C Breakfast & Korean Kitchen to close immediately on Monday afternoon after the restaurant had ignored the ministry warning and banned their meals. Service.

TCHD said in a statement: "Despite this warning, the restaurant violated the Colorado Public Health Decree issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment [CDPHE] and opened on May 10 for dinner ".

The closure of the restaurant has been ordered until the health service determines that it is in compliance with public health order.

TCHD said: "If the restaurant refuses to comply with the governor's public health order, further legal action will be taken, including the revocation of the restaurant license."

According to the Public Health Ordinance, catering services in restaurants and cafeterias will be closed, and delivery of food and expedited services will be available from March 19.

TCHD executive director Dr. John M. Douglas Jr. said in a statement: "It is frustrating that this restaurant chose to operate before public order and did not even consider taking best practices for preventing the spread of COVID-19. " Declaration

"It is unfair to other communities and other business owners who stay" safer at home "and do their part. We sincerely hope that C&C will choose to cooperate with the rules that allow them to operate so that we can lift this restriction. Close order, "Douglas said.

The governor's office also condemned the restaurant's decision.

The spokesman said, "These restaurants not only break the law, but also endanger the lives of employees, customers and the community."

Jesse Arellano defended his decision to violate Polis' "ridiculous" order in an interview with KOA NewsRadio on Monday.

He said: "We are fine in two or three weeks". "But we go there for two months, then we hear the governor say that we may open before Memorial Day. It's ridiculous. If everything else is restricted, why can't we open restrictions or similar in the same way? "

When asked why she hadn't asked for a social evacuation at the restaurant, Jessie replied that they "had set aside a few tables", but "that didn’t matter." Importance. "

He said, "People just arrived, so they didn't stop them." "People want freedom."

Jesse said he didn't order employees to wear masks, but instead asked them to wear gloves. He said he had also sent notices to employees about the reopening, adding that if they didn't want to do it, they didn't have to go to work.

He said, "No customers seem to be afraid" in the restaurant.

The motto outside the restaurant reads: "Note: Our freedom does not stop where the fear begins … If you are afraid of being within 6 feet of someone One another, Don't go into this industry!"

TCHD said there were 661 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Douglas County and 26 people had died from the virus. There are 115 cases of Castle Rock.

Jesse said that while he thought the coronavirus was "serious", he did not consider the 26 deaths to be "very high" figures. He claimed that there were "false reports" that attributed the death to COVID-19.

Jesse told KOA NewsRadio: "I'm almost sure people will die of other things." "Not just COVID. We saw a lot of false reports, they said they were dead for one thing, and they said it was COVID. Now everything has become COVID. They are all dead from COVID, which I think is ridiculous. "

He said that he and his wife had not yet decided whether they would also open the food service on Monday ", mainly because yesterday we had a lot of participants, so we need to make sure that this place is good; we have to do a final cleaning and sterilize and make sure we have enough food. "

The couple did not respond to Heaven32 News' request for comment.

The restaurant reported President Donald Trump in a tweet on Saturday, announcing that it would open food services on Mother's Day.

The tweet said, "We support the United States, small business, the Constitution and oppose our overspending in Colorado."

April Arellano announced in a deleted article on his personal Facebook page that the restaurant will be open on Sundays from 8 a.m. at 2:30 p.m. offer gastronomic services. She said that even though she claimed that the police at Castle Rock had informed TCHD of her plans, she still planned to open.

A police spokesman said he knew nothing about it and referred all requests to the health department.

The contempt for this restaurant has aroused strong opposition from many people on social media, including other local restaurateurs.

Denver restaurant owner Chris Fuselier said that while he understood his boss's financial problems, "he strongly objected to" his choice "to openly ignore the limits of social alienation ".

A Castle Rock resident criticized the owners and said that they "invest profits before people's health and spin them like a cry for freedom".

However, some people support the restaurant's decision, including Colorado representative Patrick Neville. Republican politicians visited crowded places on Sunday and posted a photo with April Arellano.

Neville later responded to this strong reaction and said, "Faced with this determination, the crowd on the left follows me. I have to step back and think about it, because they went to the cafeteria. And are you crazy? " We were surprised right now, but I was very happy to participate. "

In a video shared with CBS4 on Sunday in April, he showed how crowded his restaurant was, adding that there was a "queue" in the street and that the terrace was full.

"For some of them, a lot of people said no one would show up," Apple said in the video.

She told KDVR that around 500 people are dining at the restaurant on Sunday.

She said: "I received a lot of thanks from my mother. I am also a mother, I can only go out and sit without having to wash the dishes."

Pukit Video A warning line was posted outside the restaurant and a seemingly armed person was outside to watch and let people in.

April told Colorado Community Media that she was not worried that restaurant patrons weren't wearing masks or social activities; He said he did not think his restaurant posed a risk to public health.

"Our service industry has been taking preventive measures for many years … we still have to wash everything," he said.

She said people are "flooding" retail stores.

She said, "So now, I really don't see any difference." "And we are human … I know a lot of things [because of fear] [escape]. I don't have that kind of fear."

Jesse told KAO NewsRadio: "Everyone goes to Walmart, everyone goes to Lowe & # 39; s and Costco."

He said, "That's all our point. You buy marijuana, but you can't go to church. You can go to a liquor store, but you can't go to a restaurant to eat. It's crazy. "