Northbrook-area hotel under scrutiny after wedding with 150 unmasked people
Government officials are calling a Wednesday wedding at a Northbrook-area hotel "irresponsible" after about 150 people gathered for the event while not wearing masks or social distancing.
The Hilton Chicago/Northbrook, 2855 Milwaukee Ave., is outside the village limits but has a Northbrook ZIP code.
The hotel's general manager has apologized, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
"While the event was booked prior to the implementation of the state's latest mitigation measures, we sincerely regret allowing this gathering to proceed and our family apologizes to our guests, employees, and the Chicagoland community," general manager Holly Allgauer-Cir said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon.
"The coronavirus pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for the hospitality industry and our family-owned business. However, our hope to keep the hotel afloat and employees working should not outweigh health and safety."
Allgauer-Cir said the hotel will follow health officials' recommendations on contact tracing and testing, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, and the Cook County Department of Public Health has requested the guest list for the reception.,
Gov. J.B. Pritzker criticized the hotel in his daily coronavirus briefing Thursday.
"Here we have people who are in a concentrated fashion have the ability now to go spread it to everywhere they return to," Pritzker said. "It's very irresponsible and it's also irresponsible of the hotel to host an event like that. They too have breached the rules and they should be held responsible."
Michael Jacobson, president and CEO of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, issued a statement saying he contacted public health officials to determine next steps and reminded hotel management that they must abide by the Tier 3 mitigations.
"The large gathering that was allowed to take place at the Hilton Chicago/Northbrook is unacceptable and does not reflect the careful efforts the hotel industry as a whole has taken since the onset of the pandemic to protect guests, employees and our communities," Jacobson said.