ST. LOUIS — Closing time is now a little later for bars and restaurants in the City of St. Louis.
Mayor Lyda Krewson announced the city is loosening one of its COVID-19 restrictions to allow businesses to stay open until midnight beginning Monday, which is an hour later than the previous closing time of 11 p.m.
It’s a move done in tandem with St. Louis County, which announced earlier Monday that it’s also allowing businesses to extend hours. Mayor Krewson said the city and county like to be “as in sync as possible” on the guidelines to avoid confusion and encouraging business in one area over the other.
Mayor Krewson credited improving COVID-19 numbers in St. Louis for allowing the health department to make the move.
“Here we are with really good numbers for about two weeks, so I think it makes some sense to do that,” she commented.
And she said the restrictions could be eased again soon if the trends continue.
“We certainly are considering lifting that even further if we can sustain these low numbers,” Krewson said.
The city’s health department COVID-19 dashboard shows the preliminary seven-day average of new cases Sunday was 12, which is a significant decrease from the high average of 166 new cases back on Nov. 15.
Even though restrictions are loosened, the mayor said other health guidelines remain in place, including social distancing and mask mandates. Businesses in the city and county also are still limited to 50% occupancy.
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