Late night service to resume January 9

A month after updating health orders requiring bars and restaurants to suspend late night service, Governor Mark Gordon has reversed course with new health orders that will be effective on January 9.

In a press release from the Office of Governor Mark Gordon dated January 2, the governor announced that bars and restaurants would be able to return to normal operating hours. Under the current health orders, which took effect December 9, bars and restaurants were required to close from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., a move which led to frustration for many establishment owners.

One day after Gordon announced that bars and restaurants would be required to close at 10 p.m., the Wyoming Business Council announced the Hospital Loss Relief Fund which would award up to $50,000 to hospitality businesses impacted by the early closures. While the program opened on December 10, it closed on December 16. On December 18, the Wyoming Business Council announced that it had received applications from more than 100 businesses throughout the state.

On January 2, Gordon cited the decrease in hospitalizations for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as the reason for the return to normal operating hours for bars and restaurants.

“Thank you to the people of Wyoming who recognized the strain on their hospitals and health care workers and acted accordingly,” said Gordon in the press release. “I also want to express my gratitude to those businesses that adapted to these temporary measures. These have not been easy times for anyone. We are not out of the woods yet, but continued personal safety measures while the vaccine is being distributed will enable our state’s schools and businesses to continue to remain open.”

The 19th continuation of the three public health orders will take effect on January 9 and expire on January 25.