As the COVID-19 virus continues to spread throughout our country, many major cities have adopted new CDC guidelines or gone even further. This weekend, New York City and Los Angeles proclaimed all bars and dine-in restaurants would be shut down. In Los Angeles, the closure will last until at least March 31; no discreet timeline was given in NYC for the closure but it’s likely to follow the nationwide eight-week self-quarantine advisement. This morning, Denver is preparing to postponed or cancel any gatherings over 50 people for the next eight weeks. A press conference at 11am local time will reveal more details.
Denver released a press statement saying, “The City and County of Denver is aligning with the revised CDC guidelines recommending that gatherings of 50 people or more be postponed or cancelled for the next eight weeks in response to the COVID-19 virus.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Sunday also ordered bars and restaurants in the state to close from Monday to March 30. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Sunday that he has ordered all bars and restaurants in the state to shut down service beginning at 9 p.m.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh ordered bars, restaurants and clubs to cut their capacities in half by removing tables and chairs to encourage social distancing.
Writes NBC News, “Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser also announced a series of protocols that restaurants and bars must follow, including limiting service to tables of six peoples or fewer, ensuring that patrons are seated at least 6 feet apart at tables and booths and ordering nightclubs and multipurpose facilities to suspend operations.”
We can expect to see policies like these pop up in local governments across the nation over the course of this week, if the federal government doesn’t make a blanket policy itself in the meantime.
via LA Times, CNN, NBC News | Photo by Gina Joy for Insomniac Events
