CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot is downplaying the differences she and Governor Pritzker have over new COIVID-19 restrictions for restaurants and bars in Chicago. She's now stressing what officials can do to help the businesses through the challenges.
Governor Pritzker is not backing down from his ban on indoor dining, because of Chicago's surge of coronavirus cases. And Mayor Lightfoot said she is not contemplating a legal challenge or anything like that.
She said the two of them met for about an hour.
"We had a very frank and productive conversation with the Governor and his team and my team as well. We explored a lot of issues and we came out of that discussion really committed to making sure that we work hard together," Lightfoot said.
The Mayor said it is important for restaurateurs to know about the $200 million the state has in business interruption aid and her administration will help the businesses, especially neighborhood restaurants apply for that.
"I think the most important thing is that we take advantage of the opportunity to help our businesses...We want to encourage businesses that are going to be negatively impacted by these latest restrictions to apply," Lightfoot said.
She repeated her earlier warnings that a number of restaurants are hanging by a thread and need all the help they can get to survive.
Mayor Lightfoot urges people to wear masks and do everything they can to reduce the spread of COVID-19, so those restrictions can be lifted.
"You must take all the precautions necessary to limit the amount of people you are around, because those are the only things that are going to get us through this until we have a vaccine. Those are the most important things. The Governor and I are 100 percent aligned on those issues and we are going to keep working together," she said.
