Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s health team officially gave the green light Saturday for restaurants and most bars across Chicago and suburban Cook County to invite customers back inside for indoor service.
A day after officials said both regions were “on track” for limited reopening, the city and Cook County suburbs saw their coronavirus infection rates improve for a third straight day to officially move from Tier 2 to Tier 1 of the state’s COVID-19 mitigation plan.
Tier 1 allows for restaurants and bars that serve food to seat customers indoors at the lesser of 25% capacity or 25 people per room. Bars that don’t serve food aren’t allowed to reopen in Chicago unless they partner with a restaurant to deliver on site.
With coronavirus testing positivity rates and hospital admissions down to their lowest levels since October, Pritzker loosened his requirements last weekend for regions to begin lifting restrictions on indoor service.
Chicago and suburban Cook County Tier 2 mitigations with three consecutive days of positivity rates below 8%. The regions first fell below that mark Thursday.
Indoor service has now been allowed to resume in eight of the state’s 11 regions, though hundreds of businesses have openly defied Pritzker’s order for weeks.
Tier 1 mitigations also require bars and restaurants to close by 11 p.m. and open no sooner than 6 a.m. the next day; reservations can’t be for more than two hours, with parties limited to four people. Customers have to wear masks at all times except when “actively” eating or drinking.
The decimated hospitality industry was largely ground to a halt for about two months in the spring, only to be forced to close again in Chicago by the end of October and statewide in November due to a record-breaking resurgence of the virus.
Tier 1 also means loosened restrictions for indoor fitness centers and gyms, which can operate at 50% capacity.
On Friday, Pritzker pleaded with residents to continue following masking and social distancing guidelines as the state’s coronavirus numbers improve.
“The risk of a resurgence in Illinois, particularly with extremely contagious new variants, is serious,” Pritzker said. “Our ability to have limited indoor restaurant service and to restart youth sports could be cut short if we aren’t extremely careful.”
