CINCINNATI —

DORA cups are coming to downtown Cincinnati before Opening Day and that means you can take your favorite beverage to-go and hop from bar to bar along The Banks without a problem.

City officials said there's still a lot being finalized, but the excitement along Freedom Way is building.

"I think it's a good idea because everyone's been so cooped up in their houses for this long and honestly, people want to get out and have fun," Rob Weidig said.

Weidig is excited because you can soon grab a drink and take a stroll or dance if you'd like, outside at The Banks.

"I think it would be a first glimpse of normalcy for everyone and I think that's what we need. We need hope and we need progress moving into the future," Dan Collins said.

City council approved a "Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area" and pedestrian walkway to help restaurants and bars hurt by the pandemic.

People can grab a boozy beverage in a sanctioned DORA cup and share in the Cincy love of spring.

Officials said the hours will run from 11 a.m. until 1 a.m., once the DORA is up and going.

Cold beer, libations and bourbon will be more mobile than ever before in time for Reds Opening Day.

"I think it's exciting. I think more people will actually come with it being outside," Liz Brohas said.

Jackie Reau, with Game Day Communications, said DORA on The Banks will start with a toast on March 25 and an announcement of guidelines.

She said there are plans to install signage, mapping and sidewalk tattoos throughout the district's 85 acres and there will be extra law enforcement.

The DORA stretches from Paul Brown Stadium to Heritage Bank Center, from Second Street to Mehring Way.

"In the summer, they did that thing on like Newport on the Levee and it was really awesome to be outside and, like, just feel, like, more normal," Gretchen Hinkel said.

Reau said officials are also working on guidelines to prevent groups from growing too large, and she said the district will follow mandates including social distancing.

People we talked with are ready to take their cups outside.

"I think it's really exciting. I mean, during Bengals games, they kind of do a little mini-version of that right here and there's such a good response. Everyone loves being outside, carrying their drink from place to place," Olivia Kennedy said.

Officials said you cannot bring your own beverage to the DORA.

People who venture outside of the DORA with their cups could be on the hook for an open container violation.

We also reached out to the mayor's office for more insight into the plans, guidelines and rules, but a spokeswoman did not return a call, text or email.

CINCINNATI — Most of The Banks will convert to an open-container district next week.

Late last year, Mayor John Cranley stood outside Great American Ball Park to announce his plan to turn an 85-acre area between the nearby Heritage Bank Center and Paul Brown Stadium into a designated outdoor refreshment area (DORA). The plan also includes making the stretch of Freedom Way between Marian Spencer and Joe Nuxhall ways a pedestrian-only zone.

A spokesperson for Cranley's office said Tuesday afternoon that, while the DORA's boundaries go into effect March 25, the streetscape changes to Freedom Way will take a bit longer.

The DORA will stretch between the arena and the Bengals' stadium and between Second Street and Mehring Way.

City of Cincinnati (Provided)

According to documents filed with the ordinance approving the DORA, passed by City Council last month, signage posted in the vicinity will mark its boundaries.

"Right now I can pretty much speak for every business down here: We're just going into debt. This is the bright spot coming out of the dark," said Jim Moehring, owner of the Holy Grail Tavern and Grille and one of the plan's chief supporters, on the day of Cranley's announcement.

The coronavirus pandemic has spelled hardship for entertainment districts like The Banks, dealing with stricter health codes and capacity restrictions.

Moehring said the benefits of the change would outlast the coronavirus pandemic.

The transformation of Freedom Way was part of a larger plan to make pandemic-related expansions of outdoor dining, drinking and entertainment space permanent. Cranley also proposed in December expanding restaurant patios, sidewalks and even closing down some streets to vehicles altogether to cultivate "streeteries" throughout Downtown and Over-the-Rhine.

CINCINNATI — What was a "troubling" sight for Gov. Mike DeWine was a welcome change for business owners at The Banks in the hours leading up to Thursday's Reds Opening Day game.

"One to 10, I give it an 11," said Kris Keefe, manager at Jefferson Social, which sits at the corner of E. Freedom Way and Marian Spencer Drive in the heart of The Banks' new designated outdoor refreshment area (DORA). He said it's the busiest day The Banks has seen since the coronavirus pandemic began more than a year ago.

Keefe's counterpart down the block at Holy Grail Tavern and Grille, Nick Remsay, agreed that, without the open-container zone just out their doors, there would be a lot of impatient, unhappy fans -- and a lot of lost business.

"We had a line at our door at 8 o'clock," Remsay said. "The inside filled up very quickly because we are at 50% capacity still, because of COVID rules."

The Banks came under close scrutiny just days prior, when its first weekend showcased spring weather and large crowds packed into Freedom Way just outside the stadium, without practicing what some would consider appropriate social distancing and face-covering during a pandemic. A spokesperson for The Banks, Tracy Schwegmann, acknowledged that visitors weren't taking advantage of the DORA's full, 85-acre footprint, but said she expects, with time, that will change.

"It's an enormous footprint," she said. "We certainly want folks, as they come down to the DORA, to be mindful of those health recommendations that are in place to help keep you safe."

Late Thursday morning, crowds began arriving at The Banks but stayed mostly within the immediate vicinity of the ballpark, leading folks like DeWine to say during his routine COVID-19 briefing that afternoon: "They’re outside, and that’s the best thing I can say -- they are outside. But more people wearing masks would certainly make me feel a lot better."

Keefe and Remsay said they saw the potential the DORA holds for the neighborhood post-pandemic.

"We're just very excited about the future," Keefe said. "Once all the COVID restrictions are (done), what these places are going to look like down here with the big screen on the outside of the stadium, and all this extra capacity, it's really exciting. It'll be a lot of fun."

CINCINNATI — He's a Reds fan, but Gov. Mike DeWine hardly cheered when he saw Opening Day crowds at The Banks on Thursday.

"I think that's a mistake. I think that's a mistake to be that close together," DeWine said during his routine COVID-19 press briefing on Thursday afternoon, around the same time fans began congregating en masse on E. Freedom Way just outside Great American Ball Park. The strip -- lined with bars and restaurants -- is a small portion of a new designated open-container zone that spans most of The Banks.

For DeWine, he saw too many people too close for his comfort, and too few wearing masks.

"They’re outside, and that’s the best thing I can say — they are outside," the governor said.

The comment begged the question: How safe are outdoor gatherings when crowds get as dense as they were on Reds Opening Day, or like they were during the open-container zone's -- also known as a designated outdoor refreshment area, or DORA -- first weekend.

Dr. Steve Feagins with Mercy Health said get-togethers outdoors are safer than indoors, for the obvious reason: better ventilation. But he added that what he saw at The Banks Thursday made an entire physician's lounge at his hospital cringe.

"Everybody had the same reaction to watching all those people at The Banks," he said. "Oh, no. And these are the docs that take care of COVID patients."

Especially in an atmosphere where crowds are cheering, the risk of transmission -- even outdoors -- increases, Feagins said.

"When the sound is up, you're shouting, so you're actually aerosolizing more," he said.

Despite the increasing availability of COVID-19 vaccines, states across the country -- including Ohio -- are seeing a rise in cases and hospitalizations, yet again. But now, those who are contracting the virus most are younger people, as a majority of the state's older populations have already been vaccinated.

"Ohio remains in a race against a virus that is now more contagious and is right back on our heels," said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, chief medical officer for the Ohio Department of Health, referring to increasing cases of more virulent COVID variants that have surged across the U.S.

Vanderhoff said doctors expect one or more of the variant strains soon to be the most common among current coronavirus cases.

So when it comes to wearing a mask and social distancing -- even when outside among crowds -- Feagins said, "Just keep going."

CINCINNATI — Hamilton County health leaders said they have seen "no increases" in COVID-19 cases in the weeks after the launch of the designated outdoor refreshment area (DORA) at the Banks.

"Over the last month and a half, we have seen looking countywide, which includes residents in the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County residents as a whole, we have no increases in cases over the last couple months, which is great news," he said.

Earlier this month, Gov. Mike DeWine expressed concern about unmasked people attending crowded events at the Banks possibly spreading COVID-19.

Kesterman, citing CDC guidance, added it is 18 times less likely to spread COVID-19 in an outdoor environment than in an indoor setting. This week, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks outdoors around small groups.

Hamilton County recorded 137.99 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people last week, down slightly from 146.3 the week of April 15, according to state health department data. Since the pandemic began last spring, 869 people have died of coronavirus, Hamilton County Public Health reports.

Kesterman said the county has made "significant" strides in its vaccination efforts, and 41% of residents have received at least a first dose.

Health officials encourage everyone -- especially young people -- to get their COVID-19 vaccine in order to get "back to normal" this summer. Since last week, Hamilton County Public Health has run small vaccine clinics in schools.

“Originally, we had a supply problem -- we no longer have a supply problem,” said Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece. "So we're able to have it available at a lot of different locations and in a lot of different ways."

The county is hosting three walk-in clinics at the Hamilton County Board of Elections, Woodlawn Recreation Center and Sharonville Convention Center. For details and times, click here.

Find more vaccine clinics in Hamilton County with this interactive map.

Relief for small businesses, venues available

Hamilton County leaders encouraged small business and venue owners affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to apply for financial relief through two federal programs.

Bars, restaurants, caterers, food trucks, breweries and other businesses are eligible for relief through the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The program will provide eligible businesses with funding "equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location."

Grant recipients are not required to repay the funding as long it is used for payroll, rent, food and beverage expenses and other eligible uses no later than March 11, 2023.

Registration for the application portal begins Friday at 9 a.m., and applications open Monday, May 3 at noon. For more information, click here.

Venues affected by pandemic restrictions can also get relief through the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, which will provide $16.2 billion in economic help to this industry. Live venue operators and promoters, theatrical producers, live performing arts operators, museums, movie theater operators and others are eligible for this program.

Applications are now open for this grant. Click here to learn more.