Pennsylvanians looking to reunite with former classmates at their hometown bars on the night before Thanksgiving will have to do so over Zoom, as the commonwealth has banned on-premise alcohol sales from 5 p.m. on Wednesday until 8 a.m. on Thursday.
The ban applies to “bars, restaurants, and private catered events,” according to a press release. It intends to keep large groups of people from gathering.
We are in a very dangerous situation, and we need to work together to stop the spread of COVID-19 right now.
If we give in to the virus, we will lose many more Pennsylvanians. And that is unacceptable.
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) November 24, 2020
Takeout orders are encouraged and alcohol can still be sold to-go; however, indoor dining may continue where permitted.
Philadelphia banned indoor service at its restaurants on November 20 for six weeks. A federal judge last week rejected an injunction attempt by a group of Philadelphia restaurateurs who sought to block Mayor Jim Kenney’s ban on indoor dining, Law360 reported.
“Here, granting a temporary restraining order may result in more transmissions of COVID-19 and more cases of serious illness and death,” U.S. District Judge Nitza Quiñones Alejandro wrote in a brief. “Thus, the potential harm to the public is significant and not outweighed by the irreparable harm plaintiff might suffer.”
In their lawsuit, the Philadelphia restaurateurs said that forcing restaurants to close while other establishments, such as big box retailers, could remain open placed an “arbitrary burden” on the service industry. Judge Alejandro deemed the restaurateurs’ concerns “genuine,” but ruled they did not meet their “burden with respect to the extreme remedy of a temporary restraining order.”
In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s ban on onsite dining at bars and restaurants in parts of his state was upheld by an appellate court earlier this month, according to Law360. Geneva, Illinois-based Fox Fire Tavern filed a lawsuit against Pritzker’s executive order, but was denied an overturning of it in court.
The National Restaurant Association has also pushed back on restrictions place on the restaurant industry, sending a letter to the National Governors Association citing “no scientific evidence linking restaurants to the increase in COVID-19 cases and urging them to consider policies and regulations that will enable the industry to safely serve their communities for the duration of the pandemic.”
In addition to curtailing onsite alcohol sales, Gov. Tom Wolf also issued new limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings. For buildings with occupancy rates up to 2,000, gatherings are capped at 10% of capacity for indoor events and 15% of capacity for outdoor events. The rates drop to 5% for indoor events and 10% for outdoor events in spaces with capacity between 2,000 and 10,000 people. The maximum headcount is 500 for indoor gatherings and 2,500 for outdoor gatherings.
As of press time, Pennsylvania has 321,070 cases of COVID-19 and 9,951 residents have died from COVID-19.