A restaurant employee in Chicago prepares the grill. City officials said on Tuesday that the rules on dining in bars and restaurants would be relaxed. (WTTW News)
Chicago officials announced on Tuesday that they will allow meals and drinks in bars and restaurants to run at 40% of their normal capacity, or no more than 50 people.
Six days after authorities announced that they would slowly allow dinners and drinks in bars and restaurants to function in expanded capacity in an effort to prevent another outbreak of COVID-19 cases, Chicago reached the first benchmark set out in the plan.
“In the past few days, we have made incredible progress in the ongoing effort to save lives and defeat this deadly virus,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot. “I am thrilled that we have advanced enough to cautiously facilitate more regulations, but, once again, I want to remind all of our businesses and residents that we are not out of danger yet. Only by committing ourselves to what we know works, will we be able to continue to move forward with care and responsibility. ”
Bars and restaurants could not accommodate more than 50 people or 25% of the total capacity of the room until Tuesday.
Representatives from the Cook County Department of Public Health told WTTW News that the Cook County suburb would follow the same rules in force for Chicago and loosen restrictions on indoor meals and drinks.
Evanston, Skokie and Oak Park, which have their own health departments, are not covered by county rules.
Restaurants and bars can operate at 40% of their normal capacity, but no more than 50 people now that the city has marked three days at the “moderate risk” level, as determined by the number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed per day, the city the positivity of the test, the number of emergency visits for diseases similar to COVID-19 and the number of intensive care beds occupied by people diagnosed with COVID-19, officials said.
Chicago, known as Region 11 under the state’s reopening plan, and suburban Cook County (Region 10) qualified for what state officials call phase 4 restrictions on January 30, which allows restaurants and bars to operate with 50% of capacity or 50 people, whichever is less.
However, Lightfoot imposed tougher rules in an effort to ensure that the reopenings did not cause an increase in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
On Tuesday, the city was at a “moderate risk” level for three days, officials said.
The last metric served by the city was to reduce the average number of COVID-19 cases to less than 400 cases per day, which was seen for the first time on Sunday, according to updated data from the Chicago Department of Public Health.
An average of 344 Chicagoans were diagnosed with coronavirus every day during the past week, a 31% reduction from the previous week, according to data from the Chicago Department of Public Health. The average rate of positivity for the city test is 3.6%, according to data compiled by the city.
After 14 days at a “moderate risk” level, the city said it would allow restaurants and bars to operate at 50% of their normal capacity or no more than 50 people. This could happen as early as February 27, according to city data.
Rules that require tables with a maximum of six people to be kept 6 feet apart will remain in effect. In addition, bars must serve food according to the rules. In Chicago, bars without a food service license can reopen as long as they partner with a restaurant or allow delivery. Masks should be worn when customers are not actively eating or drinking, officials said.
In addition, bars and restaurants are expected to continue to stop alcohol sales at 11 pm and close at midnight for customers on site.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]