As businesses across South Florida and around the world begin to finally reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, some  customers say they are seeing new coronavirus related fees on their bills.

Reporters at CBS12 news spoke to a local woman who says her dentist charged her a “coronavirus fee” for her last appointment.

The woman who was not named in the report, says she believes the extra cost she was forced to pay was to help the practice cover the rising cost of PPE for their workers.

This particular dental office is not the only business who is charging and extra fee. Several people who have visited restaurants and some retail shops in the past week have also posted photos showing the additional service charge on their final bill.

A customer of the treasure coast also spoke to CBS12 news saying that he noticed a 15% service fee on his bill and was still expected to tip.

The owner of that particular restaurant says that the extra fee is because of the spike in food prices due to food shortages.

While some people are not happy with the new surge charge, others say they understand and are even ok with it as long as they know about it upfront.

Many restaurants have now started adding notices to their door, to inform customers about the new charges before they dine.

 

Food prices, especially those related to meat products, have begun to rise due to several processing plants being forced to operate with minimal staff and resources as workers fall victim to the coronavirus.