55 new COVID-19 cases reported in Santa Maria on Thursday

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - As the number of Covid-19 cases climbs in Santa Maria, so does the number of customers at newly-reopened businesses like Moxie Cafe.

"We’ve been open for approximately three weeks now when the county health gave the green light to open we opened the same day it’s been going really well all of our tables are physically distant we have a beautiful patio that’s been filled every day people love sitting outside," said owner Robert Grimmesey with Moxie Cafe.

55 new cases were confirmed in Santa Maria Thursday.

This is the largest number of any city in the county.

But that's not stopping customers like Nathan Longshore from enjoying restaurants again.

He says he’s not even surprised cases are increasing. "I think it was expected there are more tests available And more people are being tested so yeah I would expect the numbers to go up just the mere fact that more people are being tested for it."

Grimmesey shared similar feelings. "We expected to spike with restraints being lifted and people moving around and getting out more with moving around and getting out more we have increased our sanitation or wipes at common places to every 15 to 30 minutes so we’re not too concerned about it."

Since the cafe's reopening managers say they’ve stopped using regular dish ware in order to increase overall health and safety for their customers and employees

Grimmesey says he's closely monitoring updates from the county public health department. "You know we’re just like everybody else every day’s a new day. We look at the report of the numbers and as long as everything you know we’re sticking to the health guidelines and we feel pretty safe here."