In light of a spike of coronavirus infections in the city, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot followed through Oct. 22 by imposing a 10 p.m. curfew on all nonessential city businesses, The Chicago Tribune reported.
In addition, the city will again ban indoor service at traditional taverns and brewery taprooms without food licenses, and ask residents to cap any social gatherings at six people.
Also, Lightfoot said the city is on a path for much tougher restrictions heading into the holiday season if the virus doesn't get under controlincluding a potential second stay-at-home order.
Chicago's seven-day average of new cases has hit 645, up dramatically from where the city was at the start of the month and even from the weekend.
On Oct. 21, Illinois Restaurant Association President/CEO Sam Toia issued a statement to media outlets, including Windy City Times. In part, it read, "The Illinois Restaurant Association ( IRA ) cannot support the COVID-19 mitigation plan presented by Governor Pritzker's office that ceases dine-in operations at restaurants across the state of Illinois.
"Moving [backward] in this manner spells complete devastation for the restaurant industry. The extreme measures outlined by the Governor's team will result in the permanent closure of countless restaurants statewide, eliminating thousands of jobs and desolating communities inhabited by millions of residents.
"Conservative estimates indicate that at least 20 percent of restaurants will be forced to close their doors permanently. This means 120,000 jobs in Illinois, gone."