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As COVID Cases Drop, Restaurants See Bump In Business

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (WCCO) -- It's been two years since restaurants were forced to shut down for in-dining service after COVID-19 first arrived in Minnesota. Now, businesses are planning to have a more normal March for the first time in years.

Friends Hannah and Quinlan met up Sunday afternoon at Yum Kitchen and Bakery in St. Louis Park for the first time in months.

"It has been really strange. It does feel like it is eventually getting back to the point it was two years ago," Quinlan said.

The pandemic has been devastating for local restaurants. Right now, the COVID-19 positivity rate in Minnesota is below 5%, and mask mandates have dropped.

Yum Kitchen and Bakery Supervisor Thomas Wan says the uptick in business is exciting, but also somewhat new again.

Yum Bakery & Restaurant in St. Louis Park
(credit: CBS)

"It's kind of like when you went away from like when you went on vacation … first day went back to work it's, 'OK, what am I doing?'" Wan said.

In March of 2020, St. Patrick's Day events were cancelled. Last year they were more limited. This year, places like Morrissey's Irish Pub in Uptown Minneapolis will have events as normal.

"It's like been a year since I was vaccinated. And a year before that, I was sent home. This year it feels like, you know, we all get to go out again and feel safe about it because cases are so low," said Morrissey's manager Clara Spencer.

The staff at Morrissey's just recently stopped wearing their masks. They are anticipating pre-COVID level St. Paddy's Day business.

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