Governments are facing an admittedly tough act balancing health and the economy. Sometimes there’s little that can be done in the face of stupidity; Pennsylvania’s governor ordered Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to close its Fine Wine & Spirits stores and cease e-commerce operations.
But not every governor is as stupid. Just across the river, in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy issued a statewide list of businesses that were deemed essential and allowed to stay open. Among those on Murphy’s list: liquor stores, factories and food trucks.
That overrode Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh had outlawed all of those as part of an emergency order that was the most restrictive in the state.
In issuing his list, Murphy said a patchwork of sometimes-conflicting local business restrictions would create public confusion and cause people to travel to other towns “hence defeating the principal objective of social distancing.” Sayegh said he was trying to protect the residents of Paterson.
As of Saturday, there were 18 cases and no deaths in Paterson, according to the Passaic County Health Department. As we wrote this Sunday afternoon, the state reported a total of 1914 cases and 20 deaths.
In another development, California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control acted to permit bars and restaurants sell prepackaged alcohol to go and allow sale of cocktails as long as the drinks have lids and go with take-out or delivery food orders.
Restaurants with drive-through can offer bev/al and craft distillers can deliver 2.26 liters per customer per day.