White House Could Seek to Close Bars, Restaurants in Virus Fight

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration may consider whether to seek the closure of bars and restaurants nationwide in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

In answer to a reporter’s question about ordering those businesses to shut, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said: “That could be -- absolutely.”

Fauci, part of the administration’s virus task force, said at the White House on Sunday that “anything and everything” is on the table to protect Americans.

Vice President Mike Pence said that updated guidelines would be coming on Monday about public gatherings in the U.S.

Governors in Ohio and Illinois on Sunday ordered bars and restaurants closed, while the District of Columbia shut nightclubs and imposed restrictions on the number of people who can be in a restaurant and where they can sit.

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