A judge on Friday denied a group of restaurants' bid for a temporary restraining order against St. Louis County, which on Tuesday banned indoor dining for at least four weeks amid a spike in Covid-19 cases.
St. Louis County Circuit Judge John Lasater made the ruling without explanation. The case may carry on, but without a temporary order, restaurants are unlikely to get quick relief against the county's health order.
The Missouri Restaurant Association said in a statement late Friday that its attorneys are working to make sure subsequent decisions in the case are made "as soon as possible, on an emergency basis."
"The restaurants have not lost the case and no judge has declared that any of the medical director's unilateral orders should have the force of law," it said. "We are confident that once those issues are heard, the restaurants will succeed in showing that" a safer at home order "and all other rules and regulations issued unilaterally by the medical director, are not enforceable until the County Council approves them."
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