( Columbus, Ohio ) - There's been a statewide curfew closing bars and restaurants early since mid-November, when cases and hospitalizations began to spike. In a briefing on Thursday, Governor Mike DeWine announced that, because hospitalizations have been dropping, that curfew has now been lifted.
"We indicated two weeks ago that if we got below 2,500 [hospitalizations], and we kept that for seven days... then we'd be able to take the curfew off," DeWine said. The curfew was allowed to expire at noon on Thursday.
Initially, it was 10pm when most businesses had to shut down in an effort to slow the then-spiking spread of COVID19. In late January, it was pushed back to 11pm, but now the curfew has been done away with altogether.
Gov DeWine cautioned that it could come back if there's another spike.