COVID-19 Update: Liquor Sales
April 13, 2020
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—On March 16, 2020, the State of Pennsylvania closed its state-owned liquor stores in an attempt to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. In addition, multiple border counties in West Virginia have relatively recently prohibited sales of liquor to persons who do not have West Virginia identification. This has pushed people into Ohio’s border counties to purchase liquor and creates an unacceptable public health issue.
In compliance with Ohio Department of Health orders designed to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, the in-person sale of liquor in the following counties is now restricted only to Ohio residents:
- Ashtabula
- Trumbull
- Mahoning
- Columbiana
- Jefferson
- Belmont
For an individual to purchase liquor in the aforementioned counties, that person must present a valid Ohio photo identification or a valid military photo ID for a person on active duty status.
Sale of liquor to a person with a valid non-Ohio photo ID may only occur with additional information showing that the person resides in Ohio, including mail with the person’s name and Ohio address on it, a bill with the person’s name and Ohio address on it, or a letter from an employer placing the person in Ohio as an essential employee.
CURRENT OHIO DATA:
There are 6,975 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Ohio and 274 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 2,033 people have been hospitalized, including 613 admissions to intensive care units. In-depth data can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov.
Video of today’s full update, including versions with foreign language closed captioning, can be viewed on the Ohio Channel’s YouTube page.
For more information on Ohio’s response to COVID-19, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH