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Indoor Dining Allowed in Four More Suburban Counties

The interior of Jimmy’s Charhouse in Libertyville. Lake County restaurants and bars that serve food are eligible to resume limited indoor dining Tuesday.

Bars that serve food and restaurants in four suburban counties are now allowed to legally re-open to limited indoor service.

From IDPH:

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced Region 8 (DuPage and Kane) and Region 9 (Lake and McHenry) are moving to Tier 1 effective today.  Information about which tier and phase regions are in can be found at the top of the IDPH website homepage.  

RESTAURANTS AND BARS
• Indoor service limited to the lesser of 25 guests or 25% capacity per room
• Establishments offering indoor service must serve food
• All bar and restaurant patrons should be seated at tables
• 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

ORGANIZED GROUP RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES (fitness centers, sports, etc.)
• Sports should follow the mitigation measures set forth in the All Sports Guidance, which outlines appropriate levels of practice and competition based on individual sport risk
• Face coverings must be worn at all times in fitness centers, including while engaged in individual exercise regardless of person or machine spacing
• Recreation, fitness centers and outdoor activities (not included in the above exposure settings) follow Phase 4 guidance

MEETINGS AND SOCIAL EVENTS (including weddings, funerals, potlucks, etc.)
• Limit to lesser of 25 guests or 25% of overall room capacity both indoors and outdoors
o Applicable to professional, cultural and social group gatherings.
o Not applicable to students participating in-person classroom learning, or sports.
o This does not reduce the overall facility capacity dictated by general Phase 4 business guidance such as office, personal care, retail, etc.

IDPH will continue to closely monitor test positivity, ICU bed availability, and the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19.  Should data show regions trending in the wrong direction, based on the established mitigation metrics, regions could once again find themselves in a higher tier with increased measures.

Patrick Pfingsten

@pfingsten1 patrick@theillinoize.com