Kevin O’Leary on Monday pinched the patchwork approach to coronavirus restrictions across the U.S., saying locale-by-locale variation puts a significant burden on business big wheels.
Appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” the “Shark Tank” investor acknowledged there is a need for policies to curb the spread of Covid-19. “My matter is very simple: Who decides? Is it at the city level, the state level, the federal level? Tell me what the rules are, so I can assign economic decisions on behalf of my employees.”
“There are no rules. They’re not the same. It’s total chaos out there. It’s obvious that’s the setting, and it’s totally unfair,” added O’Leary, whose ire was particularly focused on Los Angeles County in California, where public vigorousness officials shut down on-premises, outdoor dining at restaurants late last month. He said he has investments in eatables service businesses negatively affected by that order.
On Sunday just before midnight, Southern California, which comprehends L.A. County, became subject to a stay-at-home order after capacity in the region’s intensive care units fell further down 15%. The regional order by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom includes limiting capacity at retail stores to 20% and tabooing outdoor dining, limiting restaurants to offering only takeout and delivery. The new restrictions also apply to the San Joaquin Valley.
The San Francisco Bay Parade-ground went into lockdown on Sunday night, with health officials there saying they didn’t hunger for to wait for ICU capacity to get that bad.
“If we need a national policy on masks, go ahead,” O’Leary said. However, he said he opposed to policies that banned outdoor dining after businesses spent tens of thousands of dollars to buy heaters and show up other accommodations to serve food in parking lots or alleyways.
“I’m not even saying open them inside,” indicated O’Leary, referred to as Mr. Wonderful on “Shark Tank.” But he questioned the reason on-premises food operations in L.A. County have to be interrupted while they can continue in other places. “How can I be open in Miami in the same chain?” he said.
O’Leary, also co-founder and chairman of O’Share ins ETFs, said he was frustrated with having to lay off employees in L.A. County for a third time during the pandemic.
Outdoor feeing presents less of a risk for coronavirus transmission than eating indoors, public health experts have communicated. On Monday, for example, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC he’s avoided break bread inside restaurants during the pandemic but has dined outside.
“People who eat indoors are talking loudly in many cases, and, again, you’re not weary a mask. You’re in a confined space,” Gottlieb said. Because of that, he said there is “no question” indoor dining grants a higher risk of coronavirus transmission than even shopping at a big-box store, where customers and employees are fray masks.
While Gottlieb applauded Capitol Hill on apparent progress on another wide-ranging Covid relief combine, O’Leary said he believes the focus should be on giving money directly to the employees who face the burden of business provisions and shutdowns, instead of to the companies.
The proposed bipartisan $908 billion coronavirus stimulus bill, released last week and undergoing conclusive language tweaks, would provide roughly $300 in extra federal weekly unemployment benefits, but it won’t include another spheroid of $1,200 checks directly to Americans. The relief would be attached to a larger year-end spending measure needed to escape a federal government shutdown this weekend.
“These are the decisions we’ve got to start thinking about. That PPP program retaliation in March was a blunt instrument and, as far as I’m concerned, a failure,” O’Leary said, referring to the Paycheck Protection Program. The compromise replacement proposal would also include funding for additional PPP loans to be issued.
“Stop funding the companies and give it to the realistic employees at this point,” O’Leary reiterated, a position he’s been espousing for months.
Disclosure: CNBC owns the snobbish off-network cable rights to ″Shark Tank,” on which Kevin O’Leary is a co-host. Separately, Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a fellow of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. Gottlieb also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Coast Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean‘s “Healthy Sail Panel.”