(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) The city of St. Joseph, along with many other cities across the state, is ordering restaurants and bars to close for at least 15 days in efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
"It’s not an easy decision to make," Brian Myers, a city councilman said.
The decision was made at City Hall where officials, learned that Missouri's amount of positive tests for coronavirus had risen significantly during a teleconference with the governor.
As of March 17th, there were 15 positive cases of Covid-19 in Missouri, up from just 8 cases on March 16th.
Eating establishments with a drive-thru, curbside delivery, and/or carry-out service will not be affected by the closure.
City leaders said they’re well aware of the impact a closure like this could have on local small businesses.
"We made a really difficult decision that’s going to impact service industry workers as well as the small business community," Myers said.
Despite the likely costly economic hit, city officials said the health and safety of the public are more important.
"We have to take some very difficult measures to contain this virus," McMurray said. "The primary tool to fight this is social distancing so we can’t have large groups of people and expect to contain this virus."
The closures are set to take effect on March 19th at 12:01 a.m.
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