COVID Cases Continue to Increase - Region 1 to Face Even Further Mitigation Measures:  Region 1 (Northwestern Illinois – Rockford, Galena, DeKalb), which has been under additional restrictions since October 3, will see even more mitigations measures starting this Sunday.  Over the last few weeks, this region has continued to see a surge in its positivity rate, now up to 12%.

These additional restrictions include:

Bars and Restaurants:

• Reduce party size from 10 to six individuals

Meetings, Social Events and Gatherings:

• Maximum indoor/outdoor gathering size of 10 individuals
• Applicable to professional, religious, cultural, and social group gatherings
• Not applicable to students participating in-person classroom learning
• This does not reduce the overall facility capacity dictated by general business guidance, such as office, retail, etc.
• Not applicable to sports -  see sports guidance

Indoor recreation:

• Maintain lesser of 25 people/25 percent of capacity
• No groups more than 10 individuals
• Does not apply to fitness centers

As usual, these mitigations also do not apply to schools or polling places.  The existing mitigations that were already put in place on October 3 will also remain.

City of Chicago Adds to its Mitigation Efforts: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and city public health officials announced yesterday that the city will undergo further restrictions.  The newest restrictions took effect this morning and will continue for at least two weeks.  These additional restrictions include:

• Business curfew on non-essential businesses beginning at 10 pm and in effect until 6 am.
• Last call for serving liquor at 9 p.m.
• Take-out and curb-side pick-up at restaurants still permitted
• Bars, breweries, and taverns without a food license are prohibited from operating any indoor service
• Maximum of 6 people in your “personal bubble) (I.e., no household gatherings of more than 6 people of non-household members)
• Face coverings in all indoor and outdoor public settings

The city also warned that if the positivity rate increases above 8% for three consecutive days, the city will once again close indoor dining as well. Currently, the seven-day positivity rate for Chicago is at 6.4%.

Updated Specific State Information on COVID-19 Orders:  The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has again updated their comprehensive chart detailing state specific orders, re-opening plans, and other restrictions as well as executive orders and legislation relating to business liability.  This chart is attached to this Update.  This chart will be updated now only once a week on Friday afternoon.

Update on COVID-19 Cases: IDPH is reporting 364,033 positive tests of COVID-19 in Illinois, an average increase of 4,386 new positive tests per day since reported here 3 days ago on October 20.  In total, 7,133,338 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average increase of 83,341 tests per day since October 20.  The state’s average positivity rate over all 11 regions is at 5.6% for the last week, but at 5.2% for the last 3 days.  You can see where the various regions are at in terms of their positivity rates, hospitalizations and other metrics at this link. 

Unfortunately, IDPH is reporting a total of 9,418 deaths, an average increase of 47 per day since October 20.

You can also check where these cases are occurring at the State of Illinois COVID-19 website which also contains more information on this outbreak.

Also, IDPH has a case breakdown of the number of positive cases in Chicago and each county relative to the number of fatalities.  The IDPH website also now includes a breakdown of the cases under each zip code in the state.

For information on other states and countries, John Hopkins University has developed this website that provides invaluable resources at a one-stop location detailing testing and tracing trends, timelines of COVID-19 policies, and interactive maps.

1400 E. Touhy Ave, Suite 110
Des Plaines, IL 60018
Tel: (847) 544-5995
Fax: (847) 544-5999