TOLEDO, Ohio — It's been months since Ohioans could order their last drink any time after 10 p.m., let alone 2 a.m., but that will change this weekend, as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine adds an hour to the state curfew.
"Certainly for business reasons it helps! Any additional hours of business we can get is great," Brian Crooks, with Renaissance Toledo said.
Crooks explained The Heights loses thousands of dollars on an average weekend night because of the curfew.
"On a Saturday night, every hour could be another two thousand dollars. So you could be looking at $8,000 - $10,000 every Friday or Saturday night," Crooks said.
That money directly correlates to bringing back to five or six bartenders. The original point of the curfew was to get people home early, especially when alcohol is being served. Brian admits people have been much more compliant with COVID-19 protocols right now than they were back in the summer.
"In June and July when we were first allowed to open back up, we were met with a lot of resistance from customers who didn't want to abide by the guidelines. We're seeing less and less of that now," Crooks said.
Doctors agree; many say people are more accustomed to wearing masks and distancing. So, having a gradual opening isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"We're not going to see a major lifting of the curfew, but maybe an extension, which is appropriate because it gives time to adjust and see what the numbers are going to do, ProMedica's Dr. Brian Kaminski said.
So what needs to happen for closing time to be extended even more? To start, the curfew could get pushed back to midnight if hospitalizations drop below 3,000 for seven consecutive days.