The city of Chicago is officially moving to Phase 4 of the Illinois coronavirus mitigation plan due to continuous improvements in positivity rates and hospitalizations, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced Sunday.
According to the parameters of phase 4, the internal service at the bars can be resumed, the internal service continuing at the restaurants, according to the IDPH website.
The move means that more than half of the state’s health regions have now moved to phase 4 mitigation rules. Most suburban communities remain subject to level 1 mitigations, which allow meals to be served indoors, but not indoor bar service .
Under normal circumstances, moving to phase 4 would increase capacity limits in indoor dining units, but city officials say restaurants and bars will be required to comply with level 1 limits for these numbers. Indoor service is limited to 25% or 25 or fewer people per room, with no meals exceeding six indoor customers.
Bar service is also allowed to resume at restaurants and bars, according to a Chicago press release.
The “non-essential” instructions of the city were also lifted under the new regulations, according to the mayor’s office.
“We continue to see great progress in the ongoing fight against COVID-19 and I am pleased that our metrics continue to go in the right direction,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. “However, while we welcomed the return of a limited number of in-house service last weekend, a rush to expand capacity too quickly would be irresponsible. With cases and positivity rates even higher than before the second increase , it is time to keep the guarantees to ensure continuous progress and, hopefully, to prevent any refunds in the future. “
The city achieved a reduction in mitigation rules by lowering the positivity rate below 6.5% for three consecutive days. This number has remained constant at 6.4% in recent days, according to IDPH data. The availability of beds in the ICU in the city remained constant over 20% for 11 consecutive days, while hospitalizations due to COVID-19 decreased in each of the last 10 days.
When Chicago moves to Phase 4, the following regulations follow:
- Indoor dining and indoor events will remain limited to a capacity of less than 25% or 25 people per space
- Most other industries will be limited to a capacity of less than 40% or 50 people
- Bar seats will be allowed, and the size of the indoor table can be increased to six people
- Non-essential working instructions will be repealed
- Bars and restaurants will be able to extend the opening hours until midnight, without alcohol service after 23:00
In a press release, city officials said that while the number continues to decline, they claim that “a hasty return to greater internal capacity would pose a serious risk” of slowing progress.
“We have just resumed safe meals indoors, and while we are excited to make this move, we must continue to be careful and cautious about our reopening,” said Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health. press release. . “The last thing we want is to cause a third wave of the virus, rushing to completely reopen the riskier settings in which masks are removed and people gather in the immediate vicinity.”
In addition, health officials said it was “a standard public health practice” to monitor the impact of any significant mitigation change for at least two weeks, noting that Chicago had returned to indoor restaurants less than a week earlier. .
Illinois health officials reported 3,345 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, as well as 65 additional deaths attributed to the virus.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the new cases on Friday brought the total number of nationally confirmed cases to 1,123,873 since the pandemic began. The deaths reported on Friday raised the death toll to 19,203.
In the past 24 hours, Illinois officials said 107,802 samples had been returned to state labs, bringing the state to 15,952,421 tests performed during the pandemic.
The seven-day positivity rate on all tests was 4%, remaining the same as the previous day. The positivity rate for single people tested dropped slightly to 5.1% on Saturday.