U.S. Capital Imposes Restrictions on Bars, Restaurants Amid Coronavirus Outbreak: No Nightclubs

Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser implemented new restrictions on bars and restaurants as well as ordering the suspension of all nightclub operations over the weekend, all to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Bowser announced the new measures via Twitter on Sunday.

She said that no more than 250 people are allowed to congregate at bars and restaurants. Bowser also imposed a ban on bar seating and service to standing customers.

Individual seating must be limited to six or fewer people, and there must be six feet between occupied tables and booths, the mayor also said.

“Venues licensed as nightclubs and multi-purpose facilities in the District of Columbia must suspend operations to comply with the Emergency Rulemaking to Prohibit Mass Gatherings,” Bowser declared.

The U.S. capital joined several other jurisdictions across the United States that have banned or imposed restrictions on mass gatherings to combat the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

On Sunday night, the White House issued new guidelines for federal employees in the Washington region, urging agencies to offer “maximum telework flexibilities” to all eligible employees and “use all existing authorities” to offer telework to other workers.

Most federal employees, however, were required to report to the office at the nation’s capital Monday.

During a press briefing Monday, President Donald Trump urged Americans to keep social gatherings at less than ten people.

Trump also urged Americans to avoid going to restaurants and bars.

“If everyone makes these critical changes and sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation, and we will defeat the virus,” Trump proclaimed. “And we’ll have a big celebration altogether.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), advised Americans to do their part in following the Trump administration guidelines.

“We hope that the people of the United States will take them very seriously because they will fail, if people don’t adhere to them,” he said while briefing reporters alongside Trump.

NIAID is a component of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).