Indoor Dining to Be Shut Down as Chicago Sees Increased COVID-19 Restrictions From State: Sources - NBC Chicago

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One week after Chicago closed indoor bar service and began a curfew for many businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the city, additional restrictions, including the suspension of indoor dining, will be added as the city's metrics trigger new mitigations from the state.

Chicago has seen continued increases in hospitalizations and positivity rates, making the city the latest region to trigger increased mitigations from the state, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday. The city is also only the second region to trigger these mitigations for 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.

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 Chicago "may not be far behind" those counties and said 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."

Pritzker on Monday warned that "there seems to be a COVID storm coming" and urged residents to be prepared as the state's metrics continue rising.

"No matter where in Illinois you call home: as you go about your daily life, remember that this is not over," Pritzker said as he delivered his daily briefing.

The governor on Monday said that six of the state's 11 healthcare regions will be under stricter mitigations this week, but more, including Chicago, could follow.

"Region 11 – the city of Chicago – is now seeing an average positivity rate of 7.7, and Regions 3 and 6 are both at 7.8," he noted. "And Region 9, Lake and McHenry Counties, is reporting its first day of an average positivity rate above the 8 percent threshold, at 8.1 percent. If the region remains above the 8 percent threshold for the next two days, it could enter additional mitigations as soon as this week."

Illinois health officials reported 4,000 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, along with 46 additional deaths attributed to the virus.

Tuesday's new cases mark the sixth time in the last seven days that the state has reported 4,000 or more new cases of the virus. The new numbers bring the statewide total to 382,985 cases of the virus since the pandemic began.

The 46 new fatalities bring the state’s death toll to 9,568, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

A total of 62,074 new tests were performed over the last 24 hours, with 7,388,290 performed during the pandemic.

The state’s seven-day positivity rate, on a steady rise for nearly all of October, increased to 6.4%, the highest it has been since early June.

Hospitalizations remain high in the state, rising to 2,758 patients currently hospitalized due to COVID-19. Of those patients, 595 are in intensive care units, while 241 are currently on ventilators.

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Indoor Dining to Be Shut Down as Chicago Sees Increased COVID-19 Restrictions From State: Sources - NBC Chicago
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