St. Louis County to lift COVID restrictions on indoor dining next week, officials say
St. Louis County officials announced early Wednesday that its restaurants and bars can resume some indoor dining effective Jan. 4.
County Executive Sam Page said Wednesday the restaurants, which have been limited to outdoor dining and carryout since Nov. 17 in St. Louis County, will be able to reopen dining under the following guidelines:
- Capacity will be limited to 25 percent of fire code capacity or tables must be six feet apart;
- Restaurants and bars will be required to close at 10 p.m.;
- A new mask protocol will be enacted;
- Bars and restaurants are asked to keep a record of customer’s names to help with county COVID-19 contact tracing;
- Bars are asked to install plexiglass barriers to help curb the spread.
“As cases continue to fall in St. Louis County, today I can announce the health department’s new protocols will permit indoor dining,” Page said.
In Illinois, indoor dining at bars and restaurants has been banned since Nov. 20, when Gov. J.B. Pritzker enacted tier 3 COVID-19 restrictions in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus. The mitigations restricted indoor service at restaurants and bars and imposed limitations on social gatherings while also adding restrictions to casinos, retailers, video gaming and museums.
Much like Illinois’ rules, Page said the county will monitor new case rates and deaths and hospital bed and ventilator/ICU availability in the coming weeks to determine if the ease on the dining restrictions need to be reversed.
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 9:42 AM.