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March 16, 2020 - 6:51pm | By Chris Larson
Amid growing concerns over Coronavirus (COVID-19), Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has signed an emergency executive order, which will provide for the closure, temporarily, of bars, restaurants and other places of public accommodation.
The executive order states that “The COVID-19 pandemic presents an unprecedented challenge to our State. Minnesota has taken proactive steps to ensure that we are ahead of the curve on COVID-19 prevention and response.”
Beginning no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, and continuing for 10 days, the following places are closed to ingress, egress, use and occupancy by the public: Restaurants, food courts, cafes, coffeehouses, and other places of public accommodation offering food or beverage for on-premises consumption, excluding institutional or in-house food cafeterias that serve residents, employees, and clients of businesses, child care facilities, hospitals, and long-term care facilities.
Bars, taverns, and other places of public accommodation offering alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption are also a part of the order, according to the Governor’s office.
Non-alcoholic establishments, like theaters, cinemas, performance venues, museums, fitness centers, amusement parks and other entertainment facilities, are also a part of the executive order.
“Places of public accommodation subject to this Executive Order are encouraged to offer food and beverage using delivery service, window service, walk-up service, drive-through service, or drive-up service, and to use precautions in doing so to mitigate the potential transmission of COVID-19, including social distancing. In offering food or beverage, a place of public accommodation subject to this section may permit up to five members of the public at one time in the place of public accommodation for the purpose of picking up their food or beverage orders, so long as those individuals are at least six feet apart from one another while on premises,” the order reads.
