Since COVID-19 arrived in C-U back in March, Mayor Deb Feinen has had to make a lot of difficult decisions in the name of safety. We praised her for it then, and will continue to acknowledge her efforts, as being a decision-maker during this time is not a walk in the park. All it takes is a quick glance at the News-Gazette comments to bring that fact to light.
The latest emergency orders issued by Mayor Feinen comes as students return to the University of Illinois campus this week. In normal years, we simultaneously cheering their return, while possibly complaining about not being able to find parking in Campustown anymore. This year, much of Champaign-Urbana rightly worried about what this influx of young people, the group that seems to be doing a lot of COVID spreading, will mean for the safety of our community.
This new orders, which go into effect on August 19th at 5 p.m., will do a couple of things:
- Require all customers to be seated in order to be served by the establishment and while consuming food or beverages on premises, whether indoors or outdoors.
- Bars with a Class A liquor license will be 21 and over beginning at 9 p.m.
- Limit Campustown restaurants to outdoor dining, carryout, and delivery through Labor Day.
Mayor Feinen states:
“According to the modeling data provided by University of Illinois researchers, the next several weeks will be critical to making sure the spread of the Coronavirus doesn’t get out of control as students return for the start of the fall semester. We have all made great sacrifices since the pandemic started, and I realize that these changes will be inconvenient for our residents and businesses, but they are necessary to flatten the curve and prevent a large increase in COVID-19 cases in our community as the fall semester gets underway. Flattening the curve now gives us a much better chance that students will be able to remain on campus and the University will be able to stay open for the remainder of the semester as originally planned.”
Will this completely stop outbreaks? No. College students will gather. But it will help, and we appreciate the Mayor using the powers she has at her disposal to keep our community as safe as possible.
You can find the full orders on the City of Champaign website.
Photo by Tim Bailey.