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COVID-19 surge causes staffing shortages across the Central Coast

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Posted at 7:01 PM, Jan 10, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-11 20:16:45-05

Businesses across the Central Coast are temporarily closing their doors due to COVID-19 related staffing shortages.

The Pismo Beach Athletic Club is the latest casualty, closing its doors from Monday, Jan. 10 until January 17.

The facility posted signs outside of the building as well as updated their voicemail to inform customers that a staff member had tested positive for COVID-19 and they would be closed for a week.

"I'm glad they're taking the measures. I mean, some businesses could have just sent that one employee home while someone else could have been asymptomatic so that’s nice they took that initiative," said Shannon Stoy, a member of Pismo Beach Athletic Club.

Some gym-goers found the closure a necessity, while others think it was overkill.

"Were doing more damage trying to protect Americans by killing businesses than the disease would do," said Mark Benson, another gym member.

While this business is taking the better-safe-than-sorry route, there aren't many other options when several members of a staff are out sick.

Starbucks and Vandenburgers have also had similar situations recently.

The Starbucks on Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo has posted new hours, closing at 3 p.m. due to COVID-19 related staffing shortages.

As for the Pismo Beach Athletic Club, they will be offering their members a free week of membership to make up for the time they will be closed.

The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department says any businesses closed in SLO County right now due to COVID concerns have done so voluntarily as the county has not requested any businesses shut down.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous video version of this story incorrectly implied that SLO Peak Dentistry was either closing or closing early due to staffing shortages. SLO Peak Dentistry is still open and accepting patients. However, the office sent an email to patients alerting them that appointment schedules may need to be adjusted in the case of staffing shortages.