Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that bars in the nation’s capital will have to wait another month until they are able to operate at full capacity.
In a Monday morning press conference, the mayor announced that capacity limits on restaurants, non-essential retail, places of worship, office spaces, schools, weddings, and several others would be lifted starting on May 21st.
DC @MayorBowser to lift #COVID19 restrictions on most commercial activities May 21st. Bars & Music venues June 11 @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/mI1f9ZTeXP
— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) May 10, 2021
Bars and nightclubs, however, will only be able to operate at 50% capacity and won’t be able to fully open until June 11th. Sporting and concert venues will also have to continue on D.C.’s waiver system until June 11 as well.
The announcement from Bowser comes as the number of daily new COVID-19 cases in the district continues to hit record lows.
D.C. reported just 15 new cases on Monday with the 7-day average at just 6.6 per 100,000 residents. The nation’s capital has also gone four days in a row without reporting a single COVID-19 death.
Bowser has been widely criticized for her refusal to open up the district and seemingly arbitrary COVID-19 restrictions, most recently repealing and then reinstating an indoor mask mandate for those who are vaccinated.
Mayor Bowser has caved to mob rule in the city, reinstating mask mandate 24 hours after announcing it was rescinded:
“Customers would still be required to wear a mask inside, regardless of their vaccination status.” https://t.co/UTQ5gkf3Ao https://t.co/IE7gUCGDRL
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) May 2, 2021
The mayor was also recently criticized for banning dancing at weddings with commentators drawing parallels to the 1984 film Footloose. (RELATED: Bride-To-Be’s Lawsuit Against DC: Why Is Dancing Allowed At Strip Clubs But Banned At Weddings?)
Bowser later defended the ban by saying “an alternate headline may be ‘now you can host a wedding in Washington, D.C.’”
In the meantime, bars and restaurants will have to continue operating at 25% capacity.