LANCASTER, Pa. — The alcohol stopped flowing at 5 p.m. on what’s normally the busiest drinking day of the year, the night before Thanksgiving. In an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus, Pennsylvania banned alcohol sales for one night.
The day before Thanksgiving is so well known for drinking that it’s sometimes called “Blackout Wednesday,” as most employees have Thanksgiving day off work and university students are home and can see old friends.
Pennsylvania health officials, however, worried that a large night out could become a superspreader event for COVID-19.
Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday announced alcohol sales would be prohibited from 5 p.m. Nov. 25 to 8 a.m. Nov. 26.
The move wasn’t popular with many bar patrons, including regulars at O’Halloran’s Irish Pub and Eatery in Lancaster. Several said they were disappointed they couldn’t stay out with friends longer.
“I understand they're trying to keep us safe, but I don't think that stopping us from socializing at 5 o'clock is going to impact anything,” said Lancaster resident Jeff Schober.
RELATED: Gov. Tom Wolf, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announce new COVID-19 mitigation measures
The order to stop serving alcohol early effectively shut down bars on one of their busiest nights of the year.
O’Halloran’s expected to lose nearly $2,000 in business due to the early closure of the bar.
“It affects my money. This is the only job that I have at the moment. Last year I had three jobs,” said O’Halloran’s bouncer Kenneth Jenkins. “What about us?”
General manager Kristin Myers said she felt the restaurant industry had been unfairly targeted, since they were already following mitigation measures and operating at 50 percent capacity.
“The fact of the matter is we can't gather in large groups. If our capacity doesn't change, if our restrictions don't change, it shouldn't matter,” Myers said.
Myers predicted Thanksgiving’s one-night alcohol ban wouldn’t bode well for the rest of the holiday season.
“It's impossible to predict what this means for our future as an individual or as a business because things are constantly changing,” Myers said. “At this point decline is the only thing that we see.”
Some at the bar said they planned to continue drinking at home with friends and family after the bar closed.
Others said they would call it an early night, and Thanksgiving even would be just one more tradition put on hold by COVID-19.