TOLEDO, Ohio — After the governor's orders to close bars and non-essential businesses last month, liquor sales rose more than 20 percent across the state.
Ohioans took to liquor shops after Governor Mike DeWine ordered all bars to close on March 15.
Numbers from the Ohio Division of Liquor Control show record levels for the month of March with nearly $27 million more in sales this March at $130,054,075 compared to $103,600,922 last March. That worked out to around a 23 percent increase in liquor sold with more than 250,000 more gallons sold this year.
"From March 12 to 24, there was probably a 35-percent increase (in business)," said David Joseph, owner of Joseph's Beverage Center in West Toledo.
He said people started stocking up around March 12, but it was like Christmas rush after bars closed a few days later. Now sales have leveled, he said, and they're doing what they need to protect customers.
"We've been offering gloves at the front of the store for all of our customers," he said. "And we actually have a tape line for our cashier are."
While business is booming for local shops, health officials are warning against excessive drinking.
"Listen to your doctors, as we drink excessively, it actually lowers our immune system," Toledo-Lucas County Health Department commissioner Eric Zgodzinski said, "and so we're going to have a harder time as individuals fighting off this bug if we come into contact with it."
The hashtag #WineWithDewine for the governor's daily briefings has taken off on social media. But addiction recovery workers are cautioning to be careful around those in recovery.
"Even know it might seem humorous to some people, other people it might be challenging and harmful to them," Zepf Center COO Lisa Richardson said, "because it's normalizing drinking and drinking for them can put them in a really bad place."
Health officials urge everyone to drink responsibly and those in recovery to have a plan in place that includes keeping in contact with others during this isolating period.