03/17/2020
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect Mayor Regina Romero's retraction of her statement that restaurants would be ordered closed. Take-out and drive-through service will be allowed.
All bars and other public venues will be shut down in Tucson through the end of the month, with restaurants limited to only take-out service, Mayor Regina Romero announced Tuesday afternoon.
"I have decided that it is in the best interest of maintaining public health to close restaurants, bars, food courts, gyms, and other venues where groups of people congregate through the end of the month, effective 8pm this evening," she said in a tweet that was quickly deleted.
Drive-through and take-out services will not be affected by Romero's decree, she clarified after tweeting an announcement that restaurants would be closed.
"This morning, after consulting with business stakeholders, the city attorney, and city manager, I have made the determination that it is in the best interest of maintaining public health to suspend dine-in services in restaurants and food courts, and transition to delivery/pick-up only services. Bars, gyms, and other specific venues stated in the proclamation where groups of people congregate are directed to be closed through the end of the month," she said.
"My top priority, above all else, is to protect public health. This is a painful decision that I do not take lightly. Our restaurants and small businesses need clear, uniform direction, and this order provides them exactly that," Romero tweeted before updating her public comments to reflect that restaurants were not being ordered to completely close.
Romero declared a state of emergency in the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"These changes are immediate and will last through the end of March, at which point we will re-examine our policies," she said...
All bars and other public venues will be shut down in Tucson through the end of the month, with restaurants limited to only take-out service, Mayor Regina Romero announced Tuesday afternoon. Drive-through and take-out services will not be affected by Romero's decree.