TOLEDO, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine's threat to shut down bars and restaurants if COVID-19 cases don't decrease sent shockwaves through several establishments in Toledo.
Business owners said they don't want staff or customers to get sick, but they also don't want to lose their livelihoods.
"It's a real kick in the pants, to put it mildly," Wesley's owner Micah Risher said.
"I was pacing around the bar waiting for the news because you never know," Ye Old Cock N Bull owner Sarah Mettler added.
Restaurants across Ohio are on high alert as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations climb at an unprecedented rate.
Gov. Mike DeWine did not mince words when he said Wednesday that bars and restaurants could be shut down soon.
"Just getting scared. Last time it happened there was a response to help us. So I mean honestly, if we can be taken care of as well, then do what we have to do," Homeslice Pizza bar manager Winfield Luther said.
"I was very thankful. I thought that maybe he was going to shut down the bars and restaurants, so that was a relief to me," Mettler said.
Mettler's anxiety about the governor's announcement turned to optimism, but she understands what the stakes are.
"I think he's giving us an extra chance and I think this next week is a good time for all bars and restaurants to try really hard with the masks and the social distancing," she said.
But even with those precautions, Risher said another shutdown could do irreparable damage.
"I took myself off payroll and gave my staff raises, just anticipating the fact that we're going to go through this again. It's scary because we may not make it to the other side," Risher said.
"It's frustrating but I understand it completely and I just hope everything can be put on the way it's supposed to, because rising numbers are rising numbers, and I don't want anyone to get hurt so I can pour a beer," Luther added.
Now, it's a waiting game, as restaurant owners cross their fingers for the businesses they've worked so hard to establish.
"It wouldn't look good for a lot of the community. I think a lot of the bars and restaurants would shut down, and then the Toledo that we've built, we've worked so hard to build, won't be here anymore," Mettler said.
DeWine said a week from Thursday is when he will look at the numbers, and ultimately decide whether restaurants and bars can stay open, or must shut their doors again.
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