Chicago will once again be forced to suspend indoor dining as the city triggers new coronavirus restrictions from Illinois' mitigation plan.
Due to continued increases in hospitalizations and positivity rates, Chicago will become the latest region to see intervention from the state, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday. The city is also only the second region to trigger these mitigations due to two rising metrics at one time.
The new restrictions, which include gathering size limitations and the suspension of indoor dining and bar service, are set to take effect Friday.
"Region 11 is now averaging more than twice as many COVID-related hospital admissions per day as it was a month ago, with a positivity rate that has almost doubled since the beginning of October," Pritzker said in a release. "For a time late in the summer Chicago seemed to have this more under control than other regions of Illinois, but that’s no longer the case."
The new restrictions include:
Bars
- No indoor service
- All outside bar service closes at 11:00 p.m.
- All bar patrons should be seated at tables outside
- No ordering, seating, or congregating at bar (bar stools should be removed)
- Tables should be 6 feet apart
- No standing or congregating indoors or outdoors while waiting for a table or exiting
- No dancing or standing indoors
- Reservations required for each party
- No seating of multiple parties at one table
Restaurants
- No indoor dining or bar service
- All outdoor dining closes at 11:00 p.m.
- Outside dining tables should be 6 feet apart
- No standing or congregating indoors or outdoors while waiting for a table or exiting
- Reservations required for each party
- No seating of multiple parties at one table
Meetings, Social Events, Gatherings
- Limit to lesser of 25 guests or 25 percent of overall room capacity
- No party buses
- Gaming and Casinos close at 11:00 p.m., are limited to 25 percent capacity, and follow mitigations for bars and restaurants, if applicable
These mitigations do not apply to schools or polling places.
Local
The news comes one day after state health officials said suburban Cook County and the Metro East regions will see such restrictions begin on Wednesday.
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday afternoon that if such restrictions were announced "we will obviously support it."
As of Tuesday, Chicago's data indicated between 41,000 and 57,000 residents have active coronavirus infections, Arwady said. Over the last three weeks, one in 50 Chicagoans have been infected, she added.
"This is spreading and this is why we continue to recommend that you do not invite people into your home who do not live there," Arwady said in announcing the city would be adding Florida to its travel order.
In addition to a rise in cases, the city has also seen its hospitalizations spike.
"Unfortunately this is how we see it happen," Arwady said, adding that the city's metrics are "heading the wrong way." "Cases increase, then they spread it for a couple of weeks, hospitalization numbers tick up. Then it can take another week for ICU numbers, then ventilators, then deaths."
“Region 11 is now averaging more than twice as many COVID-related hospital admissions per day as it was a month ago, with a positivity rate that has almost doubled since the beginning of October,” Pritzker said in a statement, adding that "without action, this could look worse than anything we saw in the spring."
It's not just a trend being seen in Chicago, however, according to Illinois' top public health official.
“When the first several regions started implementing mitigation measures, it was because the 7-day rolling test positivity was above 8% for three consecutive days,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a statement. “What we are starting to see now, first with suburban Cook County, and now with Chicago, is that mitigation measures are needed because COVID-19 hospital admissions are going up alongside increases in test positivity. Based on current trends, we soon could face reduced hospital bed availability and overwhelming our health care systems.”
