Last weekend, Chicago bars and restaurants finally were allowed to reopen to indoor dining, but with strict limits on capacity and social distancing to fight to spread of the coronavirus.
City officials said then they did not have the staff to actively monitor restaurants or seek out violators; they said enforcement would be “by complaint only,” meaning they’d respond if someone reported a potential violation.
Well, that didn’t last long.
Heading into the long Fourth of July weekend, the city now is vowing to look for and shut down violators, citing the large crowds seen at some establishments that flouted those guidelines.
“Starting now, I have directed my team to ramp up enforcement,” said Rosa Escareno, the city’s Business Affairs and Consumer Protection commissioner.
“We will be out there in task force manner. ... We can’t let the excitement” of reopening “reverse the months of progress we have made” to stop the spread of COVID-19, Escareno added.
“The time for education is over. The time for enforcement starts now.”
Egregious violations will trigger shutdowns and $10,000 fines, Escareno said.
That more aggressive approach was outlined Thursday at a news conference called to also outline policing plans for the weekend, traditionally a breeding ground for shootings and other crimes.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot told reporters she had been on a conference call with restaurant industry representatives and warned the owners of bars and restaurants that this is a make-or-break weekend for them — and she is “not playing.”
She added: “I don’t want to have to shut you down but if you make me, I will. ... Your financial fate depends” on enforcing capacity limits.
“If we shut you down, you’re not coming back any time soon,” the mayor said, adding that she is determined to avoid the fate being suffered by other cities and states that reopened too soon, or did not enforce safety measures. In some places, she said, COVID cases now are “on fire.”
Also appearing at the news conference was Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, who along with Lightfoot discussed plans to fight crime over the weekend.
Brown had announced Monday that 1,200 additional officers would be hitting the streets starting Thursday. The plan is to deploy the surge of officers in “hot spots” for violence, Brown said. Acknowledging “tired cops make mistakes,” he said every officer on duty over the weekend will still get a day off.
Brown appeared in uniform, not coat and tie, his first such outing. He had said he would not wear the uniform until he had completed the necessary training.
Keeping Chicago safe is “not just the business of our police department. ... It’s on all of us,” Lightfoot said, promising an “all hands on deck” approach to keeping people safe.
“We can’t give that responsibility to anybody else. ... It’s on each of us to step up and own this space in this moment. I hope we will do that.”
The Lakefront Trail and 606 will remain open, so long as people “keep it moving,” the mayor said. But beaches will remain closed, with no lifeguards on duty.
“Please don’t be foolish,” Lightfoot said. “The lake is deep ... It has riptides. ... We don’t want you to be another drowning casualty.”
