Ula Piotrowska heeded the call of Arlington County to stop serving people in her Oby Bee crepe restaurant. She reduced her trade to carryout orders and wine, which brought about 5 percent of her usual business on Tuesday. But Piotrowska says she is not closing altogether both to keep a trickle of cash flow and because her lease prohibits closing for more than ten days.

“We are just strangled,” Piotrowska said. “If we close we may be subject to breaking the lease.”

Businesses across Virginia face a similar conundrum. Unlike Mayor Muriel Bowser and Governor Larry Hogan, who ordered restaurants to close their dining rooms, Va. Gov. Ralph Northam ordered restaurants to reduce their capacity to 10 or only serve carryout.

Without an order from the commonwealth to close, restaurants and bars are left to decide for themselves whether to shut their doors.

A number of establishments have remained open in Clarendon, Alexandria, and elsewhere in Northern Virginia. One diner told Fox 5 on Monday that “I’ve been getting a lot of emails from places saying they’re sanitizing things and keeping things clean so I think that’s good news.”

A tale of two bars in Old Town Alexandria: On the left, Murphy’s at capacity with a bouncer barring entry. On the right, Southside with no restrictions pic.twitter.com/6Ofa4B0wH2

— Fenit Nirappil (@FenitN) March 18, 2020

Some have criticized the commonwealth for not fully shutting establishments down. “Shame on Gov. Northam! Bars and restaurants open on St. Patrick’s day in #Virginia to take advantage of closed DC and MD spots. It’s not worth the $$$. SHUT DOWN,” wrote one Twitter user. A server wrote that she is “concerned for the health of my guests and coworkers,”

Northam’s office did not respond to questions about why he did not order restaurants closed.

Local governments cannot step in to mandate closures. Dillon Rule jurisdictions, like Virginia, give state lawmakers the ultimate authority over local law, often tying county leaders’ hands.

That’s why Arlington County resorted to begging businesses on Monday to close their dining rooms. “We thank all those that have already done so, but we plead with all our bars and restaurants that have not yet closed their dining rooms to [do so] … and not reopen until we can all work out safe ways for patrons to be served in person,” the statement said. “Otherwise, we will likely be overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases and the health of everyone in Arlington will be in jeopardy.”

The county had 13 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, which is the most of any jurisdiction in the state, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Local authorities are dealing with an avalanche of issues related to the outbreak and appear to be unaware of the lease problem.

Arlington County Board Member Katie Cristol wrote in a Twitter message that “Usually commercial leases are multiyear, so I’d be surprised to hear of a threatened eviction.”

Stephanie Landrum, CEO of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, wrote that her office “is in touch with a number of commercial property owners to understand the pressures this pandemic has created for their financials and cash flows.” She added that many landlords understand the cost of ending leases and finding new tenants, and so they are motivated to work with businesses to find a solution.

Economist Jeannette Chapman at George Mason University speculated that Virginia has not issued a blanket order because its cases have not been as widely and evenly distributed as those in D.C. and Maryland.

“The difference in Virginia is that the virus spread thus far has been a little bit more clustered geographically, and so it’s understandable that it is harder for the Commonwealth Government to make a broad based call that affects everyone equally,” Chapman said.

It is possible no business would be able to enforce an eviction because Virginia’s courts are frozen in the current crisis as well. But for now, business owners are worried.

Piotrowska said she drastically reduced hours for her employees, instead of laying them off. Her meals tax and sales tax are due to Arlington on March 20. Her rent is due April 1. She opened her restaurant in 2012 but fears the lockdown could force her out of business.

“We need some kind of help,” she said.

This story has been update to correct the status of Darna Restaurant and Lounge—closed the day before St. Patrick’s Day, following guidance from Arlington County and the Arlington Restaurant Initiative—and the name of the crepe restaurant.