Some Chicago restaurants requiring masks, COVID vaccinations as cases increase
Are masks coming back? Some Chicago restaurants adhering to CDC mask guidelines
CHICAGO (WLS) -- While Chicago does not have a city-wide vaccine or mask mandate, more individual businesses are choosing to require people be masked up in order to come in.
Ever in Fulton Market plans to stick with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest guidelines.
"Safety first, it's almost funny to say it, but every move that we make is a safety first move," Ever owner Michael Muser said.
Eating at the fine-dining restaurant Ever is an experience, and owner and operator Muser wants to make sure that experience is a safe one.
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"So when we make policies that affect the client's experience, the guest experience, we try to be as mindful as we can, but we never break rule No. 1 -- safety first," he said.
That means adhering to the CDC'S latest mask guidance, which is to wear one indoors regardless of vaccination status.
All of their employees are fully vaccinated.
Some establishments across the city are even going as far as checking vaccination cards before allowing customers in.
These rules are in place in hopes that another city shutdown is not coming down soon.
Ever restaurant opened about a year ago, in the middle of the pandemic, and they maintain their strict cleaning and sanitizing protocols. The staff want to do everything they can to make sure they can stay open, and, most importantly, provide a safe environment.
"We're good at taking on new standards, we are good at adapting, we're good at cleaning even more than we do," Muser said. "There is a sense of desperation in the air from my community that's just saying 'whatever you do, please don't limit our ability to do business again. We will make the changes we need to make our rooms safe.'"
New York City will soon require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations for anyone who wants to dine indoors at a restaurant, see a performance or go to the gym, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday, making it the first big city in the U.S. to impose such restrictions.
