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Bar Hoppers Defy Virus Fears, Make Last Call Before Shutdown

Bar Hoppers Defy Virus Concerns, Make Last Call Before Shutdown

(Bloomberg) -- Hours before the city of Hoboken imposed limits on restaurant operations and shut down bars to combat the spread of the new coronavirus, hundreds of people made one last defiant pub crawl.

In many parts of the U.S., residents began practicing the social distancing that public-health officials say will help slow the pace of the pandemic, which has killed at least 59 Americans and more than 5,700 people worldwide. But that point was getting limited traction Saturday night outside The Pig and Parrot, a Key West-themed bar across the street from the Hoboken train station.

“Yes, I’m nervous about getting the virus, and I don’t want to give it to other people,” said Nicole Zanetti, 25, who works for Merrill Lynch in Pennington, New Jersey. “But it can’t stop us from going out and drinking and having a good time.”

On Saturday night, Hoboken Mayor Ravinder Bhalla announced that restaurants would be limited to pick-up or delivery service and bars would be closed starting at 11 a.m. Sunday. He also imposed a curfew from 10 p.m. through 5 a.m. beginning Monday until further notice to support social distancing and prevent the spread of Covid-19, the name of the disease caused by the virus.

The mayor’s decision followed those of local authorities in countries that have so far been harder hit, including Italy and France. There was a last burst of partying in Europe too before social distancing measures took hold.

Young crowds flocked to cafes and bars late Saturday in Paris and Lyon before they shut down at midnight. In nearby Belgium, people living close to the border with the Netherlands crossed over to party and shop there, in a move Dutch media dubbed “coronatourism.”

In Hoboken, a number of those bar-hopping Saturday night weren’t convinced about the need to curb their social lives.

“Ten to 15 years from now, we’re going to look back and say this was silly,” said Xavier Jones, a contractor from East Orange. “Yes, it is killing people, but we shouldn’t be shutting down bars and restaurants given what we don’t know.”

Bimal Patel, who was in town from Philadelphia to celebrate the engagement of a pair of friends, was equally skeptical.

“Instead of closing things down, I feel like they should limit hours or limit the capacity,” he said, noting that half his friends’ celebration party didn’t show up because of virus concerns. “There should be a better way of handling it than shutting everything down and impacting the economy that way.”

Most people infected with Covid-19 don’t become seriously ill, but it’s especially dangerous for older people and those with underlying illnesses.

“I do think about spreading it to elders because obviously we have elderly people in our families,” said Alysia Camacho, who works at a dental office. “But at the end of the day, what can we do but live our lives?”

To contact the reporter on this story: Bailey Lipschultz in New York at blipschultz@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net, Marthe Fourcade

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