per day. the pace of new infections are dropping in every state by maine. two years into the pandemic many businesses are still struggling to recover, especially true of restaurants. cbs s kris van cleave reports tonight from denver. reporter: bright marten was intended to be a denver main stay bringing neighbors together over fried chicken and roseé. jared riggs dream has been dashed by covid. i feel we re a canary in the coal mine. reporter: like six out of ten restaurants nationwide riggs saw his business plummeting by half forcing him to shut down. probably harder in 2021 than in 2020. reporter: omicron was double whammy. double white. reporter: riggs was a part of a program helping restaurants but riewnt of money after a third got help.
“Being a dine-in-centric business, we have 110 seats in here and we’re not filling them. We’re paying rent on them, so it’s hard to justify the business,” an owner said.