An estimated 3,400 Ohio restaurants have closed and many more are at a breaking point, pleading with Gov. Mike DeWine to extend the current 10 pm curfew until midnight.
The curfew has had a “tremendously negative impact” on the restaurant industry.
The President and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant Association John Barker said many businesses may not survive through the end of 2020 in an ORA Business Impact Update on October 8.
COVID regulations forced restaurants to expend thousands of dollars on dining room partitions, cleaning, masks for employees, signs and other added safeguards.
At the same time, restaurant capacities were reduced and remain at reduced limits. This put spring and early summer sales down by thousands of dollars versus the same periods last year.
The 10 pm curfew was implemented on July 31.
Diane Hurd, vice president of Inspire PR Group, said the ORA
estimates about 10-15% of 23,000 Ohio restaurants have closed.
Hurd said it’s difficult to verify which closures are temporary and which are permanent.
Due to COVID-19 regulations, all Ohio bars and restaurants are prohibited from selling alcohol past 10 pm, and onsite consumption of alcohol must be finished by 11 p.m.
Barker said the curfew is having a “tremendously negative impact on sales, profits and employee income.”
The association requested that the curfew be pushed back to midnight in a September 22 letter to the Governor. On Thursday, DeWine told ORA board members and industry leaders that he has not yet made a decision.
Contact tracing data that shows spread and transmission at restaurants was requested by the ORA, but public health officials have so far not provided this information, according to information released by the ORA.
The ORA recommends restaurant and bar owners and operators write, email and call the Governor’s office to professionally express the impact this is having on your business and employees.
They need to take this to court because he doesn’t care about Ohio or its residents as long as he’s making money, its really sad how he’s destroying our state and our economy 😡
Sunshine: I agree 100% with you! This piece of crap Governor should have never, ever have the right to close any business! We the people of Ohio have to stand up for ourselves and our State. This low life is bleeding Ohio of everything! I just seen were he endorsed someone we should vote for! Who ever that sucker endorses, Will never get my vote!
He needs removed, impeached for over stepping his authority!🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Im so disgusted with gov govenor DeWine and how long he has let this go on. We had seven of our favorite businesses shut down because of those they couldn’t afford it no more. And you would think if he is so worried about the virus that he would let places be open the full amount of hours instead of everybody cramming in there all together within a few hours how does that make sense? And then just a couple days before school started he tells us we have to put mask on our children K-12 my son has asthma and allergies and he said it is not an excuse. He should be ashamed of himself our state is doing terrible and I don’t obey his mask mandate either and I never will. Try to control the people too long the people will come for you
This man needs impeach
How is it that bars & restaurants are required to shut down during certain hours??
If a grocery store or hardware store chooses to remain open all night long, is that against the law?? Is there not some possibility that germs can be spread there also? What possible good reason is there to force establishments to cut hours drastically, to the point of going out of business for lack of sales??? They are also being forced to close tables, and separate them, then why restrict hours also??? Is virus more likely to be spread late at night? guessing most bars and restaurants peak before 10 pm anyway, so what is being gained by forced closures ??
This state is owned by residents, NOT politicians!! We must speak up & use the political system to rid ourselves of self-serving politicians. Cancel ALL BUSINESS RESTRICTIONS !
Let people return to work, return to operating their business as they see fit. The old “Sunday Blue Laws ” were finally changed, time to allow all Ohio businesses to open and operate, and customers can decide, of their own free will, whether to patronize any and all businesses, or not. Consumers choice NOT governors choice !!!
I don’t know even where to start he has hurt so many with his guidelines physically and mentally and financially. All the businesses that had to close because of his hour restrictions and they make no sense none whatsoever. I live in Fairfield County in a small town in the damage that he has done cannot be fixed not counting the few suicides we’ve had over this with several teenagers. In The Mask I don’t care what anybody says it is worthless the package even tells you so when you buy it. When they had the pandemic if you want to call it that back in the early nineteen hundreds they wore masks and they lost over 1.5 million people I’d say they don’t do squat but dehumanize people. When I seen in one of the schools in the classrooms and how these small children are separated from each other so far they can’t talk they don’t get together on recess can’t play on the playground these kids are suffering there is nothing open for them not even a park. I have never disliked the governor as much as I do this one but we’ll be out of here after Christmas we’re going to North Dakota thank God
I think everyone needs to come together to fight him. There is no reason for these closings mandates and orders for a cold virus with a 99.8 percent recovery rate. He is bankrupting small business,basically kidnapping our elderly and threatening to take our children.
Why are they asking for Midnight? What happened to 2AM, like it USED TO BE!
This has done NOTHING to slow the spread. Let people LIVE THEIR LIVES.
Mike Dewine is a disgusting tyrant who needs to be removed NOW!
I agree with all the comments that portray mike dewine as the tyrant that he is! Still waiting on the results of the stand up ohio lawsuit.
Get behind lawyer Tom Renz and the Stand Up Ohio lawsuit! Donations are still needed for the work of keeping the effort up and running. Dewine has chosen the path of a tyrant and we must fight to see that he is prosecuted and fitted for an orange jumpsuit for all of his crimes against the people of Ohio!!!!!