The state of Ohio ordered all bars and dine-in restaurants to close at 9 p.m. Sunday to control the spread of coronavirus.

Carryout, drive-thru and delivery businesses are allowed to continue, Gov. Mike DeWine said Sunday afternoon. It hasn’t been determined how long dine-in business will be banned statewide.

"Delay means more people will die," DeWine said. But not only are people dying, "if we do not act, our health care system in the state of Ohio will not hold up."

DeWine started hearing from people around the state Saturday night who were worried about crowded bars in their areas. He said the state already had set a limit on gatherings to less than 100 people as officials learned COVID-19 is twice as contagious as flu.

"I can’t tell you how sorry I am," DeWine said to business owners and workers. "This is a matter of life and death, and so we’re very mindful of the economic hurt. ... This is brutally tough, and my heart goes out to them, but we have to do what we have to do to save their lives.

"We also know it’s much, much much more deadlier than the flu," DeWine said. "So this social distancing is vitally important."

The governor also said schools, which are due to close after Monday statewide for at least three weeks, may not reopen in the spring.

Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan released a statement Sunday afternoon supporting the governor’s actions.

The mayor said he has asked public safety forces "to be prepared to increase their focus on crowd control and protection of property for the safety of all our citizens."

"With that said, it is imperative that we still support those businesses that have carryout, delivery and drive-thru options," Horrigan said.

Paula Ostry was disappointed Sunday when she heard restaurants are closing while she was shopping at the Acme Fresh Market store in Montrose in search of toilet paper, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.

"I don’t know what I’m going to do," she said. "I don’t cook. I love Cracker Barrel ... all the restaurants."

She stressed that she’s "worried about people in the restaurant industry. That is their livelihood."

DeWine acknowledged the ban is going to hurt business owners and employees greatly and said the state will try to "mitigate the suffering."

The governor is signing an executive order to change the state’s unemployment law to enable workers who don’t have paid leave to access unemployment benefits during this period of emergency, Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon A. Husted said.

Quarantined patients also will be eligible for unemployment, Husted said.

The state is waiving its one-week waiting period for benefits under the executive order, Husted said.

Anthony Piscazzi, owner of the Merchant Tavern in Akron’s Merriman Valley, said he was "a little numb" after the governor’s announcement but understood the decision.

"I hope they were right to do it" and it deals a significant blow to the virus spreading, he said.

The restaurant had few customers by about 5 p.m. Sunday. It opened at 4 p.m.

Piscazzi just this weekend had decided to open a half-hour later and close an hour earlier because of a drop in business.

The eatery employs 36 full- and part-time workers, and Piscazzi had been working on shorter shift times so that no single employee got hit too hard.

He said it’s unlikely he’ll stay open and try to boost his carryout business. It’s never been a huge part of the restaurant that will celebrate its seventh year in June.

"I don’t want to require employees to work [fewer hours] when they can potentially make more money through the unemployment benefits," he said.

"Keeping our staff is vital," said Jeff Bruno, part of the family that owns Akron-area institution Papa Joe’s in the Merriman Valley.

With the large restaurant’s dining rooms and bar closing, he plans to keep as many people employed as possible, offering lunches and dinners available for carryout.

Carryout already is a big part of the operation, and the restaurant’s market — with loads of bottles of wine and a deli case with hot and cold eats — will remain open.

Already, Papa Joe’s had begun offering curbside service, allowing customers to stay in their vehicles while picking up carryout orders. The eatery has two delivery trucks, and Bruno plans to keep them busy. The order minimum for free delivery was dropped from $50 to $30 last week.

Bruno recalled what Papa Joe’s founder Joe Iacomini said when his restaurant in downtown Akron burned down in 1950s.

"He said, ‘If you give me the same people, I’ll build the same business,’" Bruno said. Iacomini rebuilt in downtown, and that place closed in 1985. Papa Joe’s in the Valley opened in 1986.

Cases in Ohio

Ohio had 37 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Sunday afternoon. The Ohio Department of Health reported that 361 people are under investigation, and 140 have tested negative.

Dr. Amy Acton, director of the Ohio Department of Health, said it’s a "civic duty" to follow public health’s advice and help keep people healthy, particularly the health care workers and first responders who are needed to care for patients.

"This is the real thing," she said. "This is not a drill. This is the once-in-a-lifetime pandemic."

Patients with confirmed cases statewide range in age from 31 to 86, Acton said.

But Acton said the number of confirmed cases can be misleading to the public because they’re often just the tip of the iceberg. Many cases are undetected, including people without symptoms.

Summit County had two confirmed cases as of Sunday.

A person in their late 60s is Medina County’s first case of COVID-19, the county’s health department announced in a release Sunday.

The person has been hospitalized.

"With cases already in Northeast Ohio, it is not surprising to have a confirmed case in Medina County," Medina Health Commissioner Krista Wasowski said. "Future cases are anticipated. I need to assure you that public health is using all our available resources to reduce the impact of this disease."

School closings

DeWine said on national television Sunday that Ohio’s classrooms may not be able to reopen this spring to complete the school year.

When asked about state testing Sunday afternoon, DeWine said it would depend on how the outbreak pans out.

"I don’t think we have to cross that bridge yet," DeWine said. "But, I’ve made it very clear if we don’t do testing this year the world is certainly not going to come to an end."

Schools across Ohio were ordered to close at the end of classes Monday, and many have already closed.

The governor’s nationally televised comments Sunday included an appearance on CNN’s "State of the Union" on Sunday morning, where he was asked by host Brianna Keilar if his ordered three-week closure of schools could be extended.

"We’ve informed the superintendents while we close schools for three weeks, that the odds are that this is going to go on a lot longer and it would not surprise me at all if schools did not open again this year," the governor said.

Help for businesses

On Sunday, the state announced other steps it’s taking to help businesses and nonprofit agencies impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ohio Development Services Agency is trying to qualify for a disaster program letting small businesses affected by the public health crisis to get low-interest loans for up to $2 million. The loans can be used for payroll and other expenses. Nonprofits also will be eligible.

The state also is allowing bars and restaurants to return high-proof liquor they purchased from a state agency in preparation for St. Patrick’s Day and March Madness events that have been canceled, Husted said.

For more information, business owners and nonprofit leaders can visit sba.gov/disaster.

"We know that what we’re all going through together will have a tremendous economic impact on businesses and the people who work there," Husted said.

DeWine on Sunday made comparisons between St. Louis and Philadelphia in 1918 during the outbreak of the Spanish Flu. Philadelphia, the governor said, didn’t move as quickly as St. Louis to enact social distancing, which led the city to a far worse outbreak.

Akron’s mayor asked "every Akron citizen to change your daily behaviors in order to combat this pandemic, knowing that even more disruptions may occur in the days and weeks ahead."

"Please heed the warning of our local, state and federal health officials," he said. "Doing so is the ultimate socially generous act and the most selfless of community gestures. Your responsible actions now can help save lives. In this moment, we have a duty to our community and to each other — now, more than ever."

Beacon Journal staff writers Amanda Garrett, Katie Byard and Jennifer Pignolet and The Columbus Dispatch contributed to this report.