St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann has announced a directive and signed an Executive Order that prohibits all restaurants and bars in the county from providing for or allowing on-premise consumption of food or beverages effective at 12:01 a.m., Friday, March 20. The directive is in line with other states and cities, including St. Louis and Franklin counties and St. Louis City, that have issued the same or similar orders to prevent further spread of the Novel Coronavirus 2019 Disease (COVID-19).

“We have been studying this decision for several days,” says County Executive Ehlmann, “and taking into consideration all aspects of what this order means for our community. We feel that keeping them open will affect the health and safety of the residents of St. Charles County.”

Ehlmann says 21 states, including Puerto Rico, have made similar directives. Those states are Illinois, California, Ohio, Connecticut, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Washington and Puerto Rico.

The directive has been added to the Executive Order that was signed and issued by County Executive Ehlmann on Monday, March 16, and states that the following places of public accommodation are prohibited from on-premise consumption of food or beverages by members of the public: restaurants, food establishments, food courts, cafes, coffeehouses and other places of public accommodation offering food or beverage for on-premises consumption; and bars, taverns, brew pubs, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, tasting rooms, special licensees, clubs, and other places of public accommodation offering alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption.

“All of the places (listed above) are encouraged to offer food and beverage service to the public using delivery service, window service, walk-up service, drive-through service or drive-up service,” County Executive Ehlmann says, “as long as every person involved implements the appropriate precautions to mitigate the potential transmission of COVID-19, including social distancing techniques.”

Ehlmann says those offering take-out or delivery services can have only 10 members of the public at one time in the place of public accommodation for the purpose of picking up their food or beverage orders, as long as any such member of the public is at least 6 feet from other people while on premises to the extent possible.

All restaurants are urged to read the Executive Order for further details and to call 636-949-1899 with questions. The order is posted on the County website at sccmo.org.

St. Charles County Department of Public Health Director Demetrius Cianci-Chapman says restaurants need to follow CDC recommendations on mitigation, including social distancing. “Restaurant owners and managers need to ensure that patrons waiting for take-out orders are not placed in ques that put them within 6 feet of others,” Cianci-Chapman says. “They need to make certain employees are protected from extensive face-to-face contact with the public and they need to sanitize surfaces on a regular basis.”

The St. Charles County Public Health Department urges everyone, including restaurant workers who are handling take-out and delivery services, to follow the following precautions:

Wash hands frequently and often for 20 seconds using soap and water.

Use hand sanitizer when soap and water is not available.

Cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces with household sanitizer.

Avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

Staying home when sick, except to seek medical attention.

Avoiding close contact with people who are sick.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the St. Charles County Department of Public Health website at sccmo.org/COVID.