ILLINOIS, USA — The Illinois Department of Public Health announced new COVID-19 mitigation efforts for the Metro East after the region reported its third consecutive day with a seven-day positivity rate higher than 8%.
On Sunday, the IDPH said Region 4 — which includes Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington counties — had a seven-day positivity rate of 8.5%, the third day in a row with a positivity rate above 8%.
Because of the positivity rate, mitigation efforts will go into place Tuesday. The results of the efforts will be monitored over a 14-day period to determine if they can be relaxed, need to be expanded or should remain the same. The new rules include changes in operating conditions on bars, restaurants and reception halls.
"Region 4 of our statewide 11 reopening regions — the Metro East — has now surpassed an 8 percent seven-day rolling average positivity rate — a trend that I have made clear would trigger stricter mitigations when this plan was announced in July," Pritzker said in a news release. "Working with local officials in the Metro East region and across the border in St. Louis, we are implementing stricter mitigations that account for the unique factors in this region. Dr. Ezike and I are imploring local leaders and residents alike: if you haven’t been taking this seriously yet, now is the time to start.”
The governor's news release said the new measures were developed "in close coordination with local public health administrators and county officials and account for the unique characteristics of the region."
For Region 4, mitigation measures taking effect Tuesday include the following:
- Meetings, social events, and other gatherings are now limited to the lesser of 25 individuals or 25 percent of overall room capacity
- All bars, restaurants, gaming facilities, and casinos will close at 11 pm, matching the newly imposed closing times for St. Louis
- All reception halls closed
- Party buses not allowed to operate
- Reservations required for each party at restaurants and bars, and no congregating indoors or outdoors
- Indoor tables reduced to six people or less
- No dancing indoors
- Removal of bar stools at bars to help prevent congregating
- Tables should continue to be six feet apart
Jeff Vogt is the owner of JV's Bar and Grill in Waterloo for 35 years. He said the new rules will have a major effect on his business.
"It affects it very significantly. I can only have 22 people in here and nobody at the bar," he said. "We have to take out the bar stools out, the few that we had up."
He says going forward, they might just have to go back to outside service or curbside.
"It’s been a struggle for everyone up and down the street there. We’re all on the same boat here and we’re starting throw water out faster and the boat is sinking fast," He said.
Jennifer Range owns We Rock the Spectrum in Edwardsville. She said she'll continue to make changes to keep her business going.
"My business doesn’t look anything like it did on March 12. Sometimes daily it feels like we have to shift and pivot and change the way we are doing things," she said. "You just have to pivot, change and try do what you can so your business can survive."
The owner of A Fine Swine BBQ in New Baden said he hasn't gained back enough business to open full-time yet -- it's a Friday through Sunday operation right now -- and most of his customers are big groups. That changes with the new restriction of a maximum of 6 people per table.
"That's gonna be just another group of people that aren't gonna go out to eat because they can't sit together, and unfortunately it's right in the category we fall in," David Stidham said.
But Stidham said he understands why the restrictions are tightening, and he has a message for the people who aren't taking the pandemic or the rules seriously.
"We have to abide, and we have to do whatever we can to get through this so we can all get through it. We don't want this to keep dragging on and on and on because ultimately that's what's going to hurt us all," he said.
Businesses can find further information and guidance on the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity website by clicking here.
State Senator Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo) provided the following statement regarding new restrictions in the Metro East:
“Governor Pritzker's arbitrary and misguided sanctions on Monroe, Madison, St. Clair, Randolph, Washington, Bond, and Clinton counties come at the worst possible time as communities are attempting to resume school and rebuild their businesses. COVID-19 hospitalization rates in these counties remain low with no threat of exceeding medical capacity. Nevertheless, the Governor has decided that bar stools, reception halls, and groups of 26 or more people are not allowed for the next fourteen days. These new restrictions represent an absurd attempt to show that he is ‘doing something’, but in reality will do little more than to wreak further economic havoc on the families of this region.”