With coronavirus cases surging and regions of Illinois seeing a return of more restrictions, Chicago business owners are bracing for the worst. NBC 5’s Chris Hush reports.
With several Illinois regions slated to see enhanced mitigations under the state's coronavirus plan, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office said Monday the city itself could implement additional restrictions in the near future.
City officials didn't provide a specific timeline, but said restrictions wouldn't be added this week. At a news conference earlier in the day, Lightfoot hinted that restrictions may only focus on the areas experiencing the biggest challenges.
"We want to be very smart and strategic and data driven," the mayor explained. "Because as I said, while we feel like the the surge that we're experiencing now is the same or worse than the spring, we've learned a tremendous amount since then."
Last week, Chicago's top doctor said the city was experiencing an outbreak worse than the one in the spring, and there were "no signs of slowing down."
On Thursday, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said the city was reporting an average of 1,395 cases per day, a number the city said it had tried to keep below 200, where it was at one point during the summer months.
On Thursday alone, Chicago officials reported a record high of 2,182 cases, topping the previous record of 1,888 cases.
Data showed Chicago was reporting 59.7 new cases each day for every 100,000 residents, nearly four times the limit the city has set for states to be added to its emergency order requiring a quarantine for travelers.
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Chicago, along with the rest of Illinois, remain under heightened coronavirus mitigations imposed by state, despite opposition from Mayor Lightfoot, which has led to the closure of indoor dining and bar service citywide.
At Monday's news briefing, Lightfoot stressed that the city will focus on mitigation efforts down to the city block.
"We’ve got to be very strategic about he way in which we deploy intervention," she stated. "We have to surgeons knife and not a blunt axe. In thinking about the next steps, that is really the mindset we are taking."
With hospitalizations, positivity rates and case numbers rising across the city and state, it remains unclear when such mitigations might be lifted.
