COVID-19 Mitigations, Bar & Restaurant Indoor Service Closures to Impact Entire State
Governor JB Pritzker speaking earlier this year. He has now closed bars and restaurants to indoor service across the entire state.
A Sunday afternoon news release from the Governor’s office:
Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) are announcing COVID-19 resurgence mitigations will be implemented in Region 2—North-Central Illinois—beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, November 4, 2020. The region has seen a 7-day rolling average test positivity rate of 8 percent or above for three consecutive days, which exceeds the thresholds set for establishing mitigation measures under the state’s Restore Illinois Resurgence Plan. Region 2 includes Rock Island, Henry, Bureau, Putnam, Kendall, Grundy, Mercer, Knox, Henderson, Warren, McDonough, Fulton, Stark, Marshall, Peoria, Tazwell, McLean, Woodford, Livingston, and Lasalle counties.
The administration continues to work aggressively to support small businesses impacted by the ongoing pandemic, distributing more than $55.7 million in emergency grants and assistance to Region 2 alone. Moving forward, businesses in Region 2, as well as other regions currently under additional mitigations, are receiving priority consideration for the current round of the historic Business Interruption Grants (BIG) program. To date, through BIG, a total of $95 million has been directed statewide to regions currently under mitigations or where mitigations will soon take effect. These programs are guided by an equity framework and seek to address the hardest hit communities with emergency relief dollars.
“Region 2 has now sustained an average positivity rate of 8 percent or higher for three consecutive days, meaning that now every region in Illinois will soon be operating under resurgence mitigations,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I know that the vast majority of people in this state want to keep themselves safe, their families and children safe, their parents and neighbors and friends. I have always maintained enormous faith in the people of Illinois to do what’s right for each other. As cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising across our state, across the Midwest and across the nation, we have to act responsibly and collectively to protect the people we love.”
“The mitigation measures soon to be implemented across the entire state of Illinois have been established to protect your health and the health of those around you,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “These mitigation measures are not meant as a punishment, but as a way to help all of us co-exist with COVID-19 more safely.”
We’ll update this story as necessary.
