Bay Area business owners are frustrated and scared as new shutdown order begins tonight

SAN FRANCISCO - On San Francisco's Chestnut Street, a sign outside the Campus Bar pretty much summed it up -- "twas the night of the shutdown."

Sunday was the last shift for the city's bartenders and last call.

"I'm bummed out. I'm going to miss my co-workers. I'm going the miss the neighborhood. The community and of course, the paycheck," said campus bartender Nicole Hart.

Across the bay at Maven & Co hair salon in Pleasanton, stylists have been working marathon hours to fit in as many customers as possible before Alameda County's lockdown which begins at midnight.

"It's really scary as a business owner and a mom," says owner Jennifer Hatcher.

Maven has spent money to protect against spreading COVID-19. But all hair and nail salons there must stop operating indoors temporarily under the latest public health order, which also includes all indoor and outdoor dining, movie theaters, museums, and more.

"People making these decisions at the very least are just misinformed about the sanitation procedures that we take," says Hatcher.

"Us wearing masks, they take our temperature. I feel so much more safe coming here then going to Target or Walmart," says customer Mia Reece

At Diablo CrossFit in Pleasant Hill, the owner is openly defying an earlier public health order that bans gyms in Contra Costa County from operating indoors.

The county has fined the gym a total of $1,750.

"Our plan is to be open tomorrow and be open the next day. We've received three fines from the county. I expect they will be back," says owner Craig Howard.

Customers have started a GoFundMe campaign to pay for any citations.

Howard says the high ceilings, and large commercial fans, and other measures make his gym as safe as if it was outdoors.

"I know for a fact it is better than your grocery store or Home Depot or Lowe's," Howard says.

Infectious disease specialist dr. Peter Chin Hong from UC San Francisco says with covid hospitalizations soaring, safety measures are necessary. He also says, there is no specific data linking outbreaks to hair salons or gyms.

"This is more pro-active. Not only prevention. It is kind of an emergency situation right now," says Chin Hong.

The lockdown is supposed to last three weeks. But that is not set in stone.