I can’t believe this. Well, I can, but damn.
Illinois:
BREAKING: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker will order all restaurants across the state to be closed to dine-in customers in a further attempt to curb the coronavirus. Delivery and drive up will remain open. This’ll be effective end of business tomorrow. @chicagotribune
— Gregory Royal Pratt (@royalpratt) March 15, 2020
Illinois Governor Orders All Restaurants and Bars Closed for Two Weeks
Governor J.B. Pritzker has ordered all restaurant and bar owners to close for two weeks. Delivery, carry out, and curbside service will still be allowed, but customers won’t be allowed in dining rooms or bars from the end of business on Monday through March 30.
Ohio:
Establishments can stay open for carry-out and delivery. What we can't have is people congregating and seated. #COVID19 #COVID19OhioReady pic.twitter.com/3EaBWeeMdr
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) March 15, 2020
Ohio governor: All restaurants, bars must close amid coronavirus outbreak
All bars and restaurants in Ohio will be closed as of 9 p.m. Sunday until further notice, said Gov. Mike DeWine, who is taking a tough stance on trying to stem the coronavirus saying “if we don’t take these actions now, it’ll be too late.”
DeWine said what he called “very drastic action”was prompted by concerns from around the state about crowded bars. He said takeout and delivery would still be allowed.
California:
#BREAKING – Governor Newsom calling on all CA bars, nightclubs, wineries, breweries to shut down for the time being. Restaurants encouraged to stay open to provide hot & prepared meals for those who don’t have access to kitchens. Social distancing highly rec. #Coronavirus
— Alexandria Hernandez (@AlexandriaHrndz) March 15, 2020
Stopping short of a state order, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday called for the home isolation of all seniors and those who are health compromised in the state of California and the immediate shutdown of bars, nightclubs, brew pubs and wineries to help stop the spread of coronavirus, now considered a global pandemic.
In addition, Newsom said all restaurants should reduce capacity by half and provide “deep social distancing.”
At least Newsom didn’t full batshit and order everything closed. This is only three-quarters batshit.
Can someone please explain to me how I’m supposed to get carryout from a bar? Can you get a margarita in a to-go cup? Because I’m sure that you can buy bottled booze cheaper at a grocery or liquor store. People go to bars for the social interaction.
As for restaurants, some might be able to hang on by their fingernails and break even on carryout, but others won’t. For a lot of restaurants, especially higher-end small restaurants, carryout is not part of their business model. You don’t get nice gourmet food from a sitdown restaurant to go in a plastic container.
Given that this order was driven by panic, how many people are going to rush out to get takeout anyway?
Dumping this order on restaurants with short notice is going to hurt them twice. Not just from the lack of business but restaurants get deliveries of fresh items like fish, fruits, and vegetables, daily. I know, my family was in the restaurant business.
Closure without warning means that restaurants have fresh items in their inventory that they cannot hold on to until the order lifts. That stuff will go bad but the restaurant will still be required to pay for it.
Maybe, hopefully, some of these restaurants could minimize their loses by severely discounting these items for carryout or delivery through third-party services (e.g. GrubHub).
On top of this, servers, bartenders, and other non-food-prep staff, especially those who rely on tips are going to get harmed even more. There is also the trickle-down effect, harming local distributors and the industries that support restaurants.
What this will do is horribly damage these businesses for some time, and it might make a few go under.
It seems that in the rush to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, governments have decided to utterly devastate the small business restaurant economy.
Update:
Add New York City to the list:
#Breaking from Mayor de Blasio of NYC: ”Tomorrow, I will sign an Executive Order limiting restaurants, bars and cafes to food take-out and delivery. Nightclubs, movie theaters, small theater houses, and concert venues must all close." Takes effect Tuesday, March 17.
— Alexis Christoforous (@AlexisTVNews) March 16, 2020
There are about 27,000 restaurants in NYC.
What are theaters, nightclubs, and every other business that can’t do carryout supposed to do?
Mark my words, Coronavirus is going to end up doing more damage to the economy of NYC than 9/11.
DeWine is a wet blanket and screwed us over hard yet again. He’s caught in a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation and a huge percentage of people in my area depend on service and entertainment sector income. Just wants to play with his emergency powers until someone takes them away from him.
My own job isn’t going to be shut down until they burn the building down so I’m good but probably a third at least of the people in my apartment work in nearby restaurants.
This is gonna hurt BAD and they announced it with zero compassion and very very little justification and absolutely no planning. Oh sure they’ll have something in the days and weeks coming up and a few local businesses are stepping up in a big way but this is bad.
Where I live, restaurants are already at half capacity- no one is going out to eat. We went out for breakfast yesterday and were seated immediately in a half full restaurant- on a Sunday morning! I felt so bad for the staff who normally rely on the busiest day of the week for a breakfast place- Sunday- to make their tips, that we tipped $15 on a $30 check.
I’m shocked Cuomo hasn’t tried that here in New York State. To his credit, and I hate the guy with a white hot passion so this isn’t easy to say, he’s actually sounded relatively grounded and sane throughout this. The state has banned gatherings of over 500 people and most counties have limited bar and restaurant capacity to 50%, but so far I’ve seen no calls that they’re going to shutter everything over this. I know most bars/restaurants are heavily emphasizing that they have take-out available on their social media pages. Might not be a bad idea to take them up on that. It’s helps their business and if you’re eating take-out, you’re not depleting your own food supply.
It’s a feature not a bug. The more of the economy that the Dims can tank the more they can blame Trump for the downturn and closings. Common people be damned, they’re just cannon fodder in the great war anyway.
My niece lives in Boston. They just shut all bars and restaurants down in Mass. all because “orange man bad!!” Nobody did this in 2010 with swine flu. Fukkin sad
Interesting comparison between this pandemic and the swine flu in 2010. Even though more than 60 million in the US were infected, and over 300,000 were hospitalized, there was no major runs on the grocery stores. TP was plentiful.
Now, there is what…. 41 dead? (What I would call a slow three day weekend in Chicago), and you cannot get a grain of rice anywhere.
Geee…. wonder why? Oh, that’s right, the left leaning media want you get Trump out of the White House.
Illinois governor toilet man will allow the displaced restaurant workers to collect unemployment and some to be named compensation, since illinois is broke there will have to be new taxes to pay for it, typical dem response. React badly to every challenge, create economic chaos, raise taxes to pay for mistake
As of noon today, all restaurants, bars, theaters, casinos, fitness centers, senior centers and schools are closed by order of the Governor of the State of Iowa. Since I deliver pizza, my job is safe for now.