Chicago will begin a partial reopening of restaurants and other businesses on Wednesday, June 3, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Thursday.
The guidelines of the limited reopening will even be explained by the Second City in weekly web series titled “Phased & Confused.”
Officially, under the city’s guidelines for reopening, this means moving to Phase 3. But Phase 3 does not mean the pandemic is over, Lightfoot cautioned.
We cannot “totally eliminate risk. The best we can do is continue following public health guidance” around wearing a mask, washing hands and maintaining social distance, she said.
If cases spike again and people fail to obey social distance and wear masks, Lightfoot said she won’t hesitate to revert to the more-restrictive Phase 2.
Specifically, Phase 3, called “Cautiously Reopen,” maintains strict physical distancing but also allows: non-essential workers begin to return to work in a phased way; additional businesses, non-profits and city entities would open with appropriate protections for workers and customers; non-business-related social gatherings of fewer than 10 allowed; and a limited reopening of public amenities.
Libraries will have to wait until June 8. That’s also when Park District facilities west of Lake Shore Drive will open.
As for summer programs, youth activities, the lakefront and beaches and churches, the city will have to wait and see “how initial first steps go,” mayor said.
Allowing only restaurants with outdoor dining to reopen still leaves many small neighborhood eateries in peril, Lightfoot acknowledged. She said she’s talked to Gov. J.B. Pritzker about that very thing, adding that Chicago restaurants “need to have that indoor dining component.”
The Second City web series will premiere on the Facebook pages of both Lightfoot and The Second City and will include interviews with city officials and local first-responders in addition to the expected sketch comedy.
With businesses reopening, Lightfoot urged companies to stagger starting times for employees to avoid overwhelming the CTA.
The mayor’s comments came a week after she had put the brakes on optimism fueled by Prtizker, who had said some restaurants, with proper precautions, would be able to reopen in a limited fashion on Friday, when his latest stay-at-home order expires.
Pritzker on Sunday had issued more guidance, stressing that as more businesses reopen, the No. 1 priority will continue to be the health and safety of Illinois residents and workers, and he urged Illinois residents to continue to take precautions.
“You can’t build a strong economy if people aren’t comfortable being a part of it,” Pritzker said then, noting that wearing a mask “is likely the most important thing we can do for our public health.”
He added:
“I want to be very clear: The virus is still out there, and the vast majority of people are not immune.”
