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City shuts down 300-person party in Wicker Park, other businesses for ‘egregiously’ violating COVID-19 restrictions
City officials shut down a party with about 300 attendees in a basement venue in the Wicker Park neighborhood over the weekend, officials said Monday.
The venue was one of more than 300 businesses — including one that allegedly held a party with 600 people — cited for violations one month into citywide orders against indoor gatherings, dining and drinking.
Police were called to the illegal party early Sunday at The Vault in the 1600 block of West Division Street, according to a statement from the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.
No one was following social distancing protocols or was wearing face coverings, the agency said. Multiple citations were issued, including cease and desist orders and closure orders to the business “for throwing a dangerous and unlicensed commercial party.”
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9:08 a.m. Fauci warns Pritzker of ‘post-Thanksgiving surge’ — says it’s ‘no time to pull back’ from COVID-19 restrictions
Just hours after he spoke with Dr. Anthony Fauci and other infectious disease experts, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday none of the state’s 11 regions will get any break from Tier 3 coronavirus mitigations “for the next few weeks.”
The governor opened his daily COVID-19 briefing with the sobering news, citing advice from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Fauci — director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — and other infectious disease experts.
“We are still very much in a precarious place, and we have got to take the time to evaluate any Thanksgiving effects before we make any premature adjustments,” Pritzker said during his Monday briefing on the virus.
“I spoke with Dr. Fauci this morning to get his input about Illinois’ situation. He said the massive number of indoor gatherings by people visiting family and friends across the nation will very likely bring a post-Thanksgiving surge, and he believes this is no time to pull back on mitigations.”
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Analysis & Commentary
9:19 a.m. Making the case for standardized school tests, even during a pandemic
To test or not to test during a pandemic?
School districts in Illinois and across the country are waiting to learn whether states will be allowed to request waivers from federally mandated standardized tests next spring because of COVID-19.
Waivers, to our thinking, would be the wrong move. The next U.S. secretary of education, in the incoming Biden administration, should say no to the idea, something a handful of states already have done.
