Governor Announces COVID-19 Mitigation Efforts for Will County Beginning Wednesday

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health have announced new COVID-19 mitigation efforts will be implemented in Region 7, the greater Will and Kankakee County areas, beginning Wednesday, August 26 after the region reached 8 percent positivity for three days.

Bars 

• No indoor service
• All outside bar service closes at 11:00pm
• All bar patrons should be seated at tables outside
• 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
• No dancing or standing indoors
• Reservations required for each party
• No seating of multiple parties at one table

Restaurants 

• No indoor dining or bar service
• All outdoor dining closes at 11:00pm
• Outside dining tables should be 6 feet apart
• No standing or congregating indoors or outdoors while waiting for a table or exiting
• Reservations required for each party
• No seating of multiple parties at one table

Meetings, Social Events, Gatherings 

• Limit to lesser of 25 guests or 25% of overall room capacity
• No party buses
• Gaming and Casinos close at 11:00pm, are limited to 25 percent capacity, and follow mitigations for bars and restaurants, if applicable

These mitigations do not currently apply to schools and the measures will remain in effect over a 14-day period after which time more stringent mitigation measures can be implemented if metrics do not improve. The Illinois Department of Public Health will continue to monitor each region in the state for several key indicators to identify early, but significant increases of COVID-19 transmission in Illinois, potentially signifying resurgence.  Indictors include an increase in COVID-19 cases with a simultaneous decrease in hospital capacity, or three consecutive days greater than or equal to 8% test positivity rate (7 day rolling).  These indicators can be used to determine whether additional community mitigation interventions are needed for a region to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.

IDPH will track the positivity rate in both regions to determine if mitigations can be relaxed, if additional mitigations are required, or if current mitigations should remain in place. If the positivity rate averages less than or equal to 6.5 percent over a 14-day period, then Regions 4 and 7 will return to Phase 4 mitigations under the Restore Illinois Plan. If the positivity rate averages between 6.5 percent and 8 percent, the new mitigations will remain in place and unchanged. If the positivity rate averages greater than or equal to 8 percent after 14 days, more stringent mitigations will be applied to further reduce spread of the virus.