CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A week from Friday will be a day like we haven’t seen in 15 months. You can hear the relief in the voices of business owners, and the apprehension.
Coronavirus restrictions will be gone for the most part - capacity limits will be gone, meaning bars, restaurants, ballparks - all businesses - can pack them in again.
“I think for everyone it’s a collective, ‘Thank God,’ and, ‘It’s about time,’ and, ‘Let’s go,’” Sluggers owner David Strauss told CBS 2.
The owner of Sluggers in Wrigleyville, David Strauss, told CBS 2 now he needs staff.
“Just not enough staff to handle the demand of people who are finally ready to go out and want to go out,” Strauss said.
You may have heard in an earlier WBBM Newsradio report, Michael Roper, owner of Hopleaf Bar in Andersonville, saying he was looking forward to a new Roaring 20's.
"History tells us after the 1918 and 1919 pandemic, what happened? We had the Roaring 20's," he said.
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The challenge for businesses will be staffing; and some believe that will remain a challenge until unemployment and supplemental unemployment run out.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot had previously planned for a full reopening of Chicago on July 4, but she announced Thursday she thinks "we are ready to move into Phase 5 with the state next Friday, June 11."
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"The numbers are looking great...better than I think they have been through the entirety of the pandemic, so I am excited," Lightfoot said.
"Alright, now before people uncork the champagne and have beers all around, a note of caution: COVID is still here. It is still with us, and why we are able to do what we are doing, no doubt, is a result to the vaccinations. We want to get to that 70 percent threshold that the President has challenged all of us to get to. We have a lot more work that we need to get done, so keep pushing vaccine. But we are on the right track."
Meanwhile, with capacity limits being erased starting Friday, June 11, Wrigley Field will start operating at 100 percent capacity. The Chicago Cubs host the St. Louis Cardinals June 11-13.