BOSTON (WHDH) - A Charlestown restaurant co-owner is cautiously optimistic about the future as he waits for Gov. Charlie Baker to unveil his four-phase reopening plan.
After roughly two months of non-essential business closures in Massachusetts, Baker is expected to announce Monday how the state will begin its reopening process. Business owners, like Brewer’s Fork co-owner Michael Cooney, are hoping this announcement will include some guidance on what they’ll be able to do and when.
“It’s obviously difficult because nobody knows what the next step is, and you’re trying to get ahead of it,” Cooney said.
He expects the reopening will be a slow process but is eager to hear Baker’s plan.
“What we’d like to see is a more concrete schedule of when can our staff fully come back to work. When can we actually have guests in here to do what we do for a living?” he explained.
Cooney says he’s not expecting to open his doors this week.
“Whatever’s less than zero percent, that’s the chance we’re reopening,” he continued.
Baker has said that weeks could pass between each phase of his reopening plan and that restaurants are not expected to be included in phase one.
“I’m quite sure that some folks are going to say it’s too fast and some folks are going to say it’s not fast enough,” Baker said during a press conference on Friday.
Cooney told 7NEWS that he knows returning to normal is a long way off.
“There’s a lot of folks that are out of work right now that are not sure if they’re gonna be able to go back to what used to being a traditional restaurant in three weeks, three months, six months,” he said.
Many local restaurants have begun filing for bankruptcy as the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on the economy.
Baker has a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday. You can watch this LIVE on 7NEWS and at WHDH.com.
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