Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday tightened regulations on Chicago bars, restaurants, gyms and personal services to prevent a spike of coronavirus among young people from turning into a dangerous surge.
Effective at 12:01 a.m. Friday:
• Bars, taverns breweries and other establishments without a retail food license that serve alcohol for on-site consumption will be prohibited from serving their customers indoors.
Restaurants will be permitted to continue to serve alcohol, so long as they strictly enforce the city’s regulations.
• The maximum party size and table occupancy at restaurants, bars, taverns and breweries will be reduced from 10 people to six.
• Indoor fitness classes will be limited to a maximum of 10 people.
• Facials, shaves and other personal services requiring the removal of face coverings will no longer be permitted.
• Residential property managers will be asked to limit guest entry to five-per-unit to avoid indoor gatherings and parties.
Last week, Lightfoot warned of a rollback unless young people who account for 30 percent of new COVID cases in the city get the message.
“Some of you have joked that I’m like the mom who will turn the car around when you’re acting up. No, friends. It’s actually worse. I won’t just turn the car around. I’m gonna shut it off. I’m gonna kick you out. And I’m gonna make you walk home. That’s who I am. That’s who I must be for you and everyone else in this city to make sure that we continue to be safe,” the mayor said on that day.
“I don’t want to be that person if I don’t have to. But I will if you make me. And right now, we are on the precipice. We are dangerously close to going back to a dangerous state of conditions.”
Throughout the pandemic, Lightfoot has not hesitated to do whatever she believes is necessary to keep the city safe; her arms-folded, stern-faced image inspired a hysterical stream of memes she cleverly embraced.
The mayor famously shut down the lakefront in late March because Chicagoans couldn’t be trusted to maintain social distance. She reopened it last month, but only for activities including walking, running and biking and with the admonition for those on the trail to “keep it moving.” Chicago’s beaches and Park District swimming pools remain closed.
She also cut off citywide liquor sales at 9 p.m. to prevent people from gathering outside those stores.
On Monday, the mayor made no apologies for following through on her threat of a rollback.
“We have made so much progress here in Chicago in containing the spread of the virus, protecting our health system and saving lives, and in general, the virus remains under control locally. But we are again seeing a steady increase in new cases,” the mayor was quoted as saying in a press release.
“While we aren’t near the peak of the pandemic from earlier this year, none of us wants to go back there, and we feel these restrictions will help limit further community spread.”
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady noted Chicago has returned to what the Centers for Disease Control considers a “high incidence state” after its 7-day “rolling average” of coronavirus cases reached 233 on Sunday. The city’s “positivity rate” has also increased after “weeks of decline,” she said.
The troubling increase has been driven by a spike among young people between the ages of 18 and 29, Arwady said, tying it to “more social activity and interactions in bars, restaurants, parks” and along the lakefront.
“No one relishes making this move but it’s the right thing to do as we work to prevent a resurgence of COVID-19 similar to what we’re seeing in many states around the country,” Arwady was quoted as saying.
“This virus has had a disproportionate impact on Black and Latinx individuals, many of whom are essential workers who have continued to go to work, and we can’t afford to see a resurgence that would mean more cases and more deaths.”
This is a developing story. Check back for details.
