Bucks County Health Officials Warn Bars, Restaurants To Follow Reopening Guidelines Or Risk Being Shutdown
NEW HOPE, Pa. (CBS) -- Health officials in Bucks County are warning bars and restaurants to follow the reopening guidelines or risk shutting their doors again. They're even sending out inspectors to enforce the rules.
As you're enjoying your Independence Day weekend, health officials will be monitoring bars to make sure overcrowding isn't happening in Bucks County to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
There's been some sense of normalcy in Bucks County, and that's something John and Peters in New Hope has been anxiously awaiting.
"It's been a welcomed challenge in being shutdown for two-and-a-half, three months," co-owner Mike Wieners said. "We had a lot of time to think about how we're going to handle this and what we were going to do."
REOPENING GUIDE: Current COVID-19 Guidelines for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware
Wieners says they've been taking all of the necessary precautions to make sure their bar is in compliance with Gov. Tom Wolf's coronavirus reopening plan guidelines.
But this weekend, Bucks County health officials will be visiting bars.
"We did come up with this modular system that we have on our bar, which actually those can slide," Wieners said. "So maximum groups of four right now, but we can slide and kind of augment our bar, the dividers on our bar."
Eyewitness News spotted Fran's Pub enforcing the usage masks.
Officials will be making sure there are no more than four people at a table and that patrons are practicing social distancing, and the staff is also wearing masks.
Standing at the bar is also prohibited.
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"Every time a table leaves, we sanitize the tables, the chairs and everything like that," Fran's Pub host Dan Krumm said. "We wait a little bit so it's all cleaned up and all."
Bars found in violation will receive a warning and information to be in compliance.
Repeated violations could result in a liquor license suspension.
"We just want to play it the safe way, as best we can," Krumm said.
Bucks County officials say the reopening of bars and restaurants has not caused the spike in COVID-19 cases, according to its contact tracing program.
