Stephens: No reason to clamp down on bars and restaurants

Posted on October 30, 2020
State Rep. Brad Stephens (R-Rosemont) spoke during a virtual news conference this week. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – If any lawmaker knows about hotels, restaurants, and bars, it’s State Rep. Brad Stephens (R-Rosemont), who is also the mayor of Rosemont, in the shadow of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

He says there’s no evidence bars and restaurants have anything to do with spreading coronavirus.

“There is no exact data that shows that at a certain time, on a certain day, that that’s when I am contracting the virus,” Stephens said during a virtual news conference this week. “But what if i am at five different restaurants on five different days or at Target or Wal-Mart?”

The executive director of the Edison Park Chamber of Commerce, in Chicago’s northwest corner, has a similar argument: If restaurants are so dangerous, how come none have closed down because of a staff outbreak?

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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