So far, COVID-19 vaccinations have occurred only for people 50 and over, as well as those with medical conditions and qualified occupations, Suffoletto said. In Montgomery County, only 2.8 percent of those between the ages of 20 and 29 have been vaccinated, Suffoletto said.
Younger people need to be mindful that although the number of COVID-19 cases is decreasing, there are still many cases of COVID in Montgomery County and in Ohio, he said.
“Any time you’re close to someone ... you could potentially be spreading COVID or contracting COVID,” he said.
Health departments are urging bars and restaurants to maintain proper social distancing guidelines among customers, not allow their establishments to become overcrowded and enforce the mask mandate.
The Dublin Pub, which on a regular day is can host a maximum of 230 people, typically serves 15,000 people each St. Patrick’s Day, according to Anthony Good, the pub’s general manager.
Last year, the Dayton business lost about $150,000 of the $250,000 it invested into making the day a memorable one as COVID-19 arrived and shut down restaurants ahead of March 17, Good said. This year, its intent on delivering a good time, but in the safest way possible, he said.
“We’re not putting on a Paddy’s Day. A Paddy’s Day celebration is happening to us, and we are handling it,” Good said. “We could either do what we’re doing right now, handle the influx of people the best we can, or we would fail miserably because we would get hit with (as much as) ... 6,000 people and not be ready, so this is how we decided to do it.”
The Dublin Pub plans to make St. Patrick’s Day a reservation-only event to stay organized and stay safe, with social distancing and barricades in place, as well as “the fun police” patrolling the site to enforce Ohio’s mask mandate and other Ohio Department of Health guidelines, he said.
“The city was basically nixing events this year, so we weren’t really allowed to try to do what we normally would try to do,” Good said. “Not that we would have come anywhere close, I mean, we’re not dumb. We don’t want to be the superspreader event of the year.”
Flanagan’s Pub won’t be able to spread as large a crowd as it used to around its property as on St. Patrick’s Days past, but will continue to spread out tables at least six feet apart to adhere to social distancing guidelines, said Michelle Disher, bar manager for the popular Dayton pub.
Cutting capacity in the sports bar, dining section and outdoor patio means reducing capacity from 225 to about 150, Disher said. But adding tents, as well as newly expanded and permanent outdoor seating complete with barricades will add about 60 more people to the equation, she said.
“It does put us at a limit, but it’s ‘Go big or go home,’ right?” she said. “We’re going big in the safest way that we could possibly go. We don’t want to be the area where people come and congregate and be a petri dish for the coronavirus, but on the other hand we don’t to close down the establishment and not give the Flanagan lovers what they love.”
Despite precautions organizations are taking and people are following, local health departments remain concerned that revelers, after their inhibitions are let down, may forget to take the proper precautions and potentially lead to a spike or a resurgence in COVID-19 numbers.
“We’re encouraging people to celebrate at home,” Laurie Fox, spokeswoman for Greene County Public Health. “I know the vaccinations are giving people that little bit of glimmer of hope, which is good to have ... but we need to be very cautious and very careful so that we don’t continue that spread. The best way to minimize that spread is wear your mask, stay socially distanced and wash your hands ... until we can get a more significant portion of the population vaccinated.
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