Ohio’s Governor Just Ordered All Bars and Restaurants to Close, Starting Sunday Night

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Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio announced that he ordered all bars and restaurants to close in his state, starting at 9 p.m. tonight.

“Every day we delay, more people will die,” said Dewine.

Ohio is among the first states to close bars and restaurants. Many others—amid the dangers of the coronavirus outbreak—have limited social gatherings or canceled school.

DeWine tweeted out a few recommendations to add on: order delivery, get carryout, purchase alcohol at drive-thrus. And said he recognizes that many will be affected. “I’m aware that this will impact many, many good workers,” he said. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am, but we will work to mitigate the suffering. It is our goal for everyone to get through this.”

Update, 1:25 p.m. Pacific: Moments later, Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered a similar measure in Illinois, barring dine-in customers at restaurants and closing bars—with the restriction beginning at the end of the business day on Monday.

Update, 2:15 p.m. Pacific: Gov. Gavin Newsom called on all bars, wineries, and brewpubs to close and said there were “more nuanced” directives for restaurants forthcoming, according to reports. On top of that, he called for “the home isolation” of seniors and “all those with chronic conditions”:

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

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So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

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