Orange County’s graduation to a less-restrictive COVID-19 tier has come too late for some businesses, a local entrepreneur says. Tammy Niemann said her family-owned gym, Total Training, was forced to close its brick and mortar facility permanently largely due to state-imposed COVID-19 lockdowns. She said she felt the restrictions were hurting the chances of small businesses to compete with large corporations. “This was our third shutdown, so when you’ve taken people and given them the uncertainty of a place to [open back up] three times in a year, they’re going to go to other sources,” Niemann told The Epoch Times. “I think it’s tough times for [the gym] industry.” Orange County entered the red tier of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy March 14, enabling the reopening of indoor restaurants, gyms, and movie theaters. The change specifically allows gyms, restaurants, and similar businesses to operate at 25 percent capacity indoors, and retail stores are able to open to 50 percent capacity. But for businesses such as Total …