ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. — As the number of COVID deaths and new cases continues to decline in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected to announce a new coronavirus reopening plan.
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike made the announcement during a state Senate health committee meeting Monday.
Illinois is currently under Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan. Next up would be Phase 5, which requires a widely available vaccine or highly effective treatment. A mask mandate would likely still be a part of that plan.
The possibility of reopening is being cautiously welcomed by members of the business community.
In front of Lotawata Creek in Fairview Heights, a sign of hope. The sign reads – “hiring.”
Co-owner Rodney Archer said they are hiring for all positions. They normally have about 130 employees, but lately, they’re down to about 85.
Archer explained, “Mainly right now we’ve got a lot of front-of-house needs – we need some grill cooks, servers, hostesses, busboys.”
Archer and his brother, Ken, took out second mortgages on their homes several months ago in order to be able to continue paying their staff. He said they needed knowledgeable cooks to be up-to-speed when things do return to normal.
Archer explained if Pritzker re-opens Illinois, it will cut down on wait times for his customers since they are still limited to 50% capacity.
“It will also help us hire more people and get some of our servers who haven’t been able to work as many shifts as they want to work,” said Archer. “We just don’t have those hours yet. These are single moms and people with kids who need the money. That’s going to help them stay afloat and be able to pay their bills. They’ve been so far behind because of us being shut down they had nowhere to make money.”
St. Clair County Emergency Management Director Herb Simmons said the county has about 260,000 residents. According to the health department's dashboard, more than 94,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered, and 14.34% of the county has been fully vaccinated.
With vaccinations underway at Collinsville Gateway Center, and since Feb. 1 at Belle-Clair Fairgrounds, fighting COVID is job No. 1.
“The Illinois Department of Public Health and the Governor have said science will dictate how we fight this enemy, and they have not strayed from that," Simmons said. "If the science is saying now, we are eligible to take another step further, then I think we need to follow what the science is saying.”
Archer speculates on what re-opening Illinois would mean for Lotawata Creek customers and employees.
“I know that will help on wait times with the customers we have now. Like I said, we are only at 50% at this point. It will also help us hire more people, get some of our servers who haven’t been able to work as many shifts as they want to work.”