COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Health issued an update to the Dine Safe Ohio Order Wednesday that now lets certain establishments allow for food self-service again.
The order allows retail food establishments regulated by the Ohio Department of Agriculture to resume self-service. An example being convenience stores and gas stations that have self-service hot dog or doughnut stations. It does not include establishments regulated by the Ohio Department of Health such as restaurant buffets.
The order was signed by Interim Health Director Lance Himes.
Previous orders allowed dine-in services to open dine-in services to open as long as all safety standards are met. Those items have carried over to the newly amended order.
Those safety standards include the following:
- Tables cannot include more than 10 people.
- Banquet and catering facilities are limited to no more than 300 people.
- Customers must remain seated when consuming food, beer, wine and liquor.
- Open congregate areas in restaurants, bars, banquet and catering facilities (billiards, card playing, pinball games, video games, arcade games, dancing and entertainment) are permitted to open but businesses must follow all social distancing and sanitation guidelines.
Businesses are still required to have all employees, customers, patrons, visitors, contractors and vendors wear masks except for the following areas:
- Facial coverings in the work setting are prohibited by law or regulation.
- Facial coverings are in violation of documented industry standards.
- Facial coverings are not advisable for health reasons.
- Facial coverings are in violation of the business's documented safety policies.
- Facial coverings are not required when the employee works alone in an assigned work space.
- There is a functional (practical) recent for an employee not to wear a facial covering in the workplace.
Businesses that have an individual who meets one of the above criteria will be required to provide a written statement as to why an employee isn’t wearing a mask.
CLICK HERE to read the full Dine Safe Ohio Order.
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Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Ohio, a timeline of Governor Mike DeWine's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Northeast Ohio, and link to more information from the Ohio Department of Health, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, the CDC and the WHO.
See data visualizations showing the impact of coronavirus in Ohio, including county-by-county maps, charts showing the spread of the disease, and more.
The CDC and the Ohio Department of Health are now recommending the use of cloth face coverings in public to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Read more about the CDC's recommendation here. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make a face maskfrom common household materials, without having to know how to sew.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
