Gov. JB Pritzker has ordered all state bars and restaurants to close for in-building service at the end of their regularly scheduled business on Monday, and not reopen until the end of March.

Those facilities still will be able to provide delivery, take-out orders and drive-through service, he said at his daily news conference Sunday addressing the outbreak of the coronavirus. There have been 29 additional cases confirmed in Illinois since Saturday afternoon, including two announced Saturday evening in Sangamon County.

Citing prior requests to Illinois residents not to congregate in large groups for celebrations such as St. Patrick's Day — requests that, Pritzker pointedly noted yesterday, were widely being ignored — the governor said "the time for persuasion and public appeals is over."

Sam Toia, the president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, spoke at the same news conference at which Pritzker announced the closure. Toia labeled public safety the "No. 1 concern" of the organization.

"We want to protect the health of our customers and team members," he said, also acknowledging the group would be pressing the state for economic relief to help restaurateurs. In the industry, and particularly among small, independent restaurants, there often are small profit margins and little ability to absorb the economic impact of a forced closure.

Locally, the announcement triggered irritation and disappointment among owners of bars, especially those expecting big St. Patrick’s Day crowds.

“Ugh,” said Jimmy Spears, owner of Jimmy’s Bar, 2801 W. Farmington Road, West Peoria, which typically gets jammed March 17 just inside the saloon as well as throughout its two parking lots. “It’s our busiest day of the year, by far.”

Minutes after the governor’s announcement, Bill Wikoff was beside himself. This winter, he had plowed $200,000 into renovations at his pub, The Trolley, 2411 W. Farmington Road, West Peoria. He was looking forward to solid business on Tuesday.

“We just started cooking 140 pounds of corned beef on Saturday night,” he said. “I’m devastated, just devastated.”

Sean Smith, co-owner of Kickback on Fulton, 456 Fulton St., said he thought the governor had pushed the panic button prematurely.

“I’m beyond disappointed,” Smith said. “I think it’s an overreaction. It’s the flu, man. It’s the flu.”

Smith said that not only will the shutdown hurt his bottom line Tuesday and beyond, but many bar and restaurant workers will be without a paycheck for two weeks. Local economies will suffer, he said.

“It’s going to affect everybody,” Smith said.

At Kelleher's Irish Pub & Eatery, 619 SW Water St., owner Pat Sullivan began sending workers home Sunday. He said the governor’s decision is going to cripple many workers in the food and bar industry.

“Employees go paycheck to paycheck,” he said. “They’re screwed. I feel sorry for them.”

Kelleher’s, which throws the city’s biggest St. Pat’s bash, depends on March 17 to carry the business through the first four months of the year, Sullivan said. He said he had one contingency plan to salvage his bottom line.

“I’ll be declaring Monday as St. Patrick’s Day,” he said. “Come on down!”