A number of restaurants in Illinois are choosing to defy COVID-19 policies to restrict their operations.
Many business owners are calling for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to justify the restrictions, which have placed 11 regions in Phase 4 Tier 3, banning indoor dining at bars and restaurants.
Attorney Thomas DeVore represents businesses across the state. He told Center Square that only a few counties are actually enforcing the dining restrictions.
Pritzker has offered no timeline on when restaurants will be allowed to operate at full capacity again.
In an interview with Fox & Friends, restaurant owner Jeff Buckler said that despite being fined daily, he will continue to allow people to eat inside his restaurant.
“COVID is dangerous, I get it,” he said. “But if your rates are below 2%, what’s the deal?”
Buckler is one of many restaurant owners who are frustrated at the lack of clarity when it comes to the purpose of the dining-in ban and how long it will be enforced.
“COVID rates are down," he said. "Go to Walmarts, go to Targets, go to any other shopping mall and it’s packed beyond belief."
Restaurants account for about 4% of COVID-19 breakout locations after 10 other categories of breakout locations, according to statewide data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. Bars make up approximately 3%.
What's even more frustrating to many is that large retail companies are allowed to keep their doors open. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois Plan allows retail companies to remain open; however, they can only operate at a 25% customer capacity.
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