Restaurants and bars hope for lifted curfew
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Businesses, particularly bars and restaurants, have taken a hit during the statewide curfew in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but owners are hopeful that Gov. Mike DeWine might lift the curfew next week.
DeWine's office issued a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew last year. In recent weeks, he moved the start time to 11 p.m.
DeWine is basing his decisions on the number of patients hospitalized with the virus in the state, on the grounds that he does not want health care workers to be overwhelmed.
Since the number hospitalized has dipped below 2,500, DeWine said the curfew would be lifted in seven days, or by this Thursday, if this is maintained.
Restaurant and bar owners and an industry spokesman responded with some optimism, although they expressed some concerns that the public has gotten into the habit of avoiding crowds and late-night locations.
"It's good news," said Joe Bell, spokesman for the Cafaro Co. that owns the Ohio Valley Mall. "It would be excellent news if these restrictions ended. Bars and restaurants have been suffering for nearly a year now. I know some have closed and many won’t reopen. What they really need right now more than anything else is to be able to reopen, to do business and to welcome customers. That's really the tonic that the economy needs right now."
He voiced hope that the public will stay safe but continue to patronize these establishments.
"I think there are always people who are going to be cautious, going through all this ... for a year now, so some of them will stay away. But I think once that curfew is lifted, you're going to see a lot of relieved business owners and a lot of happy patrons," Bell said.
He said the restaurant and bar owners are prepared and professional in taking sanitary precautions.
"They've had a lot of practice over the past 10 months or so," Bell said. "Everyone knows what the routine is. Everywhere I go, people automatically fall into the habits ... masking, distancing ... sometimes not even shaking hands with anybody. Everybody's now familiar with what we have to do and I don't think the businesses are going to have any trouble keeping those guidelines implemented.
"So many businesses have spent nearly a year in this awful situation, and I think now that we have a light at the end of the tunnel, more people getting vaccinated, I think it's time to look forward to normal operations."
Others agreed.
"I think it's long-overdue personally," Matthew Coffland, owner of The Tiger Pub in Shadyside, said. "They started this on July 31, now it's Feb. 5. Thankfully I still have the food business, but it might be awhile before the night time business comes back all the way, albeit even after they lift the curfew. It should be a shot in the arm initially."
Coffland said his business would follow regulations, but the atmosphere will likely not be the same as it was pre-pandemic.
"We adapted, we adjusted. Even though they have the curfew, I'm sure they're going to have capacity limits and the mask-wearing. It's still going to be different," he said. "We try our best.
"I never agreed with the curfew. When you're in a public place, you come out willingly. I can only do so much. I tell people: stay in their seats. When you get up, you've got to put the mask on. I've tried to follow all the rules as good as I can. ... I hope everybody stays safe and we can continue. Everybody do their part and that can get us back to normalcy."
Belmont County Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Sproul, meanwhile, is preparing to vaccinate people 65 and older next week. Due to the expected extreme cold, he is organizing vaccination clinics indoors rather than the drive-up clinics of prior weeks.
He reported Belmont County has had 5,059 confirmed cases since the onset of the pandemic, but the number of people isolated with active cases has dropped from 800 last week to 553. There have been 4,359 recoveries, 56 people are hospitalized, and 91 people have died after contracting the virus.