Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced Thursday that restaurants in the nation’s capital will be allowed to reopen for indoor dining at limited capacity on Friday, January 22.
Bowser said restaurants will be able to reopen at 25 percent capacity and can hold no more than 250 people at a time.
The eased restrictions will commence at 5:00 a.m. EST.
Bowser also announced that officials will unveil new guidelines for other current restrictions in the coming days.
The mayor’s announcement comes just one day after President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
The mayor banned all indoor dining in December in response to the rising number of coronavirus cases.
Members of Bowser’s staff have acknowledged that the coronavirus restrictions paired with unprecedented security for Biden’s inauguration has hurt D.C.’s already struggling restaurant industry.
“Those businesses in the central business district were really being impacted by the pandemic. And so to have this additional burden on them is really going to be troublesome for those businesses,” John Falcicchio, chief of staff to Muriel Bowser, told the DCist/WAMU.