City of Chicago Enforcement “Half Mitigates” Bars and Liquor Establishments Out of Concern for Social Distancing to Moderate Spread of Coronavirus

SHARING DRINKS OBSERVED

Officials from the City of Chicago on Sunday March 15, 2020 just before 11:30 a.m. announced restrictions for bars and restaurants that sell liquor in Chicago in an effort to support Social Distancing and reduce community spread of COVID-19.

UPDATE …
Bars and Restaurants in Illinois Ordered to Close Monday Night, March 16, 2020 through Monday March 30, 2020; Drive-Thru and Pick-Up May Operate

Chicago police will enforce that all business establishments that sell liquor have less than half of their regular max capacity. Also, any establishments that sell liquor will be enforced to a max capacity of 100 persons.

Chicago is also requiring business owners to discontinue lining patrons up who are waiting for entry outside of establishments and on the public way.

Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) and the Chicago Police Department are working with local entrepreneurs and business owners to ensure they’re monitoring the new coronavirus transmission mitigation requirements.

During the daily coronavirus update Saturday, March 14, 2020, Gov. J.B.Pritzker said he was “disappointed” with all the people he saw out at bars celebrating St. Patrick’s Day Weekend.

Guidance Regarding Social Distancing and Event Cancellations

I want to thank many of our residents who have taken these guidelines to heart. I know this is hard for everyone. That said, we saw a lot of crowds out and about today, and I need to be frank: we can have a massive positive effect on bending the transmission curve, thereby saving lives, if people will take this seriously. We have seen positive results in countries that took aggressive action, and we have seen tragic outcomes in countries that did not. If you are young and healthy, listen up: We need you to follow social distancing guidelines, too. You may only have mild symptoms for a few days and may think that you’re just fine, but you can have the unintended tragic effect of spreading COVID-19 to others who may be more vulnerable. Please, please, do the right thing for your community, for your friends, and for your family. So once gain, no matter how healthy you feel, if you can, stay home. If you are able to tele-work, do so. If you don’t have to travel, don’t. This isn’t forever. This is a sacrifice for the short term to help our hospitals, our health care workers, our testing labs, and our vulnerable and our elderly residents. Every action that we take to control the spread of this virus, and prevent our medical infrastructure from dealing with too many cases at once is an action that saves lives. Every day that we follow social distancing protocols, we save lives.

— Governor JB Pritzker at Illinois Coronavirus Update Saturday, March 14, 2020

Bars in Boston have been complete shut down out of similar concern.

There were 66 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois reported Saturday, March 14, 2020.

There were 46 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois reported Friday, March 13, 2020.

There were 32 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois reported Thursday, March 12, 2020.

There were 25 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois reported Wednesday, March 11, 2020.

There were 19 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois reported Tuesday, March 10, 2020.

There were 11 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois reported Monday, March 9, 2020 (Illinois Disaster Proclamation was declared on this date).

There were 7 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois reported Sunday, March 8, 2020.

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