Police to enforce last call for drinks on Thanksgiving eve in Pennsylvania

Alcohol curfews at bars and restaurants across US aim to combat coronavirus transmission on typically busy holiday night

Officials in Pennsylvania have dispatched law enforcement to enforce last call for alcohol sales at bars and restaurants on Thanksgiving Eve, mirroring similar curfews across the US as the nation sees a dramatic surge in coronavirus infections entering the holiday season.

The state’s bars and restaurants must stop serving alcohol for on-premises consumption beginning at 5pm on Wednesday.

"We will be out and about in our capacity as liquor control enforcement officers,” Daniel Mosura Jr, the district commander of the state police Bureau Liquor Control Enforcement, told a Pittsburgh CBS affiliate. “We will be looking in on these establishments to ensure that all the laws and all the orders are being followed.”

Coronavirus infections in Pennsylvania are surging. Health officials in the state reported more than 6,600 new confirmed Covid-19 cases and 81 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, a figure that has doubled within recent weeks.

Statewide, more than 3,800 people were hospitalised on Tuesday – compared to fewer than 500 patients in September.

Pennsylvania’s curfew is among a series of orders and advisories from Governor Tom Wolf and state Health Secretary Rachel Levine to combat Covid-19 transmission in the state. 

“We’re trying to balance the needs of a very fragile economy with the need for all of us to keep safe,” he said during a press conference on 23 November. “I want to do everything I can to keep from trashing our economy like we did back in March and April.”

Maryland has also imposed curfews for on-site drinking on the night before Thanksgiving, typically when friends and families reunite in hometowns across the US, as bars brace for a reliably busy night.

“I cannot emphasize how reckless that behavior would be this year,” Governor Larry Hogan said on Monday.

Police will monitor bars and restaurants to enforce the state-mandated 10pm curfew.

The measure follows a similar curfews in cities and states across the US, from California’s “limited stay-at-home” order to New York’s order to shutter bars by 10pm.

Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser has also imposed a 10pm curfew for bar sales beginning on Wednesday.

The capital city has reported a 25 per cent spike in new Covid-19 infections within the last week, on track with rising cases in neighbouring Virginia and Maryland.