16 Milwaukee County municipalities order bars, restaurants to close aside from carry-out, delivery

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Updated: 4:31 p.m. on March 17, 2020

MILWAUKEE COUNTY (CBS 58) -- Five additional municipalities have placed restrictions on food and beverage sales following a decision made Monday night to shut down bars and restaurants in 11 Milwaukee County municipalities effective March 17.

On Tuesday, health officials announced that Greenfield, Hales Corners, Oak Creek, Wauwatosa and West Allis bars and restaurants will also be discontinuing service at 2 p.m.

The order allows for take-out and delivery services where applicable, but prohibits patrons from dining or gathering on-site.

Wisconsinites have to learn to live with a new normal.

“I hope the bans lift up soon because I’d kind of like to get back to normal," Darcy Kaderlik said. "I think everyone would.”

The reality forced difficult decisions on people like Caterina’s owner Tony Ingrilli, who had to tell employees he can’t pay them.

“I have to call each and every one of them and just explain to them it’s out of my control, but to stay safe and to keep everyone else safe we have to close down," Ingrilli said. "It’s a heavy heart to tell them that stuff because, you know we have employees that have been 25 years, 20 years.”

Ingrilli is going to try and survive as long as he can on to-go orders, but for many bars, that isn’t an option.

“If it’s two weeks, if it’s three weeks, if it’s a week, I don’t know," Tommy Amann's owner Gus Amann said. "But the impact is going to be devastating because this is our jobs, you know. This is what we do for a living.”

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development says many people have been looking for unemployment benefits online, and if you’re impacted, you should.

The department sent the following statement:

"If a worker loses work through no fault of their own, which if an employer is forced to cease operations for a time due to COVID-19 workers would fit that initial eligibility criteria, unemployment insurance is a resource workers should pursue."

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Posted: 9:53 p.m. on March 16, 2020

MILWAUKEE COUNTY (CBS 58) -- Effective 2:01 a.m. Tuesday, March 17, food and beverage sales will be restricted to carry-out sales and delivery only in 11 Milwaukee County municipalities. 

No onsite consumption will be permitted until further notice, in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. 

Milwaukee, South Milwaukee, St. Francis, Bayside, Brown Deer, Cudahy, Fox Point, Glendale, River Hills, Shorewood and Whitefish Bay issued the following statement Monday night:

“Clear and bold actions are needed immediately to stop the spread of COVID-19 and strengthen public health in Milwaukee County, and that means closing our bars and restaurants for now. This will be extremely difficult on the family-owned bars, local restaurants and small businesses that make Milwaukee County the best place to call home. We are in unprecedented times, and that calls for unprecedented actions. We want to thank the bars, restaurants, businesses and all our residents for understanding this is a necessary measure to safeguard the health of our community. We are all in this together.”

The decision was made after local officials met to discuss guidelines regarding mass gatherings.

The move comes after Gov. Tony Evers banned gatherings of 50 or more people. The White House advised people to avoid groups of more than ten during a press conference Monday afternoon, and urged people to stay away from bars and restaurants.

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