To curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Montana, Gov. Steve Bullock today announced measures to close dine-in food service and alcoholic beverage businesses statewide, along with other activities that pose enhanced health risks, effective at 8 p.m. Friday, March 20.

The directive expires at 11:59 p.m. on March 27, the same day that school closures are set to expire, though that date likely will be extended.

“Both young and older Montanans, in urban and rural communities, have tested positive for coronavirus, making it even more clear that this virus impacts us all and that these actions are imperative to protecting our friends and neighbors,” Bullock said. “We face extraordinary health risks – and with it even further risks to our economic and social well-being – if we do not act now. I do not take this decision lightly and it was done so in consultation with public health professionals. Montanans, too, need to take this seriously. It’s up to all of us to stop the spread of this virus.”

Under the directive, the following places are closed to ingress, egress, use, and occupancy by members of the public:

- Restaurants, food courts, cafes, coffee houses, and other similar establishments offering food or beverage for on-premises consumption.

- Alcoholic beverage service businesses, including bars, taverns, brew pubs, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, tasting rooms, special licensees, clubs, and other establishments offering alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption.

- Cigar bars.

- Health clubs, health spas, gyms, aquatic centers, pools and hot springs, indoor facilities at ski areas, climbing gyms, fitness studios, and indoor recreational facilities.

- Movie and performance theaters, nightclubs, concert halls, bowling alleys, bingo halls, and music halls.

- Casinos.

The places subject to this directive are permitted and encouraged to offer food and beverage using delivery service, window service, walk-up service, drive-thru service, or drive-up service, and to use precautions in doing so to mitigate the potential transmission of COVID-19, including social distancing.

The state directive follows on the heels of a similar directive issued by Flathead County on Thursday.