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If you live in Carbondale or Springfield, you can head to the
local bar and restaurant. If you are in Chicago, Rockford, Peoria or Belleville,
you are still eating takeout and drinking at home.
On Jan. 16, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced restrictions were
being eased in two regions of central and southern Illinois because
hospitalizations and positive COVID-19 test rates had fallen. The restrictions
started Nov. 20 everywhere in Illinois and closed indoor service at bars and
restaurants, spiking the state’s unemployment numbers.
The moves come as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she wants Pritzker to ease
restrictions in her city. She said Chicagoans need a night out, but so far they
remain excluded.
“I am very, very focused on getting our restaurants reopened,” Lightfoot said
Jan. 14. “So that’s a conversation I will have with the governor.”
Restaurants in other parts of the state are desperate for indoor dining to
resume, too. Owners have had to adapt and evolve quickly, which presents unique
challenges.
Quatro’s Deep Pan Pizza is a Carbondale landmark, feeding generations of
Southern Illinois University students. Customers have continuously been rattling
the door trying to come in as the pizza parlor gets by with curbside take-out.
Their dining room remains closed for now despite the eased restrictions.
“We were taken by surprise and are working toward reopening the dine-in service
sooner rather than later,” said manager Blake Morrison. “We basically turned our
dining room into storage, so it’s taking us some time.”
Morrison said Quatro’s is lucky, especially as another longtime downtown
Carbondale venue, QQ Bubble Tea, is permanently gone and others are hurting.
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The eased restrictions in central and southern
Illinois limit indoor dining to tables of four for two hours and
encourage only household members to dine or drink together.
Establishments are limited to 25% capacity or 25 people per room.
Establishments must close between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Bar seating is
still not allowed, with service restricted to tables and food must
be available. Reservations are required, tables must be six feet
apart and no congregating in indoor waiting areas is allowed.
Central Illinois counties able to dine inside are
Sangamon, Mason, Logan, Brown, Schuyler, Pike, Scott, Cass, Mason,
Menard, Greene, Calhoun, Macoupin, Jersey, Montgomery, Christian,
Adams, Hancock. The southern Illinois counties are Marion, Wayne,
Edwards, Wabash, Perry, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, White,
Jackson, Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Union, Pope, Hardin, Saline,
Johnson, Williamson and Gallatin.
The Metro East is sandwiched between the two regions where
restrictions were eased but is under the state’s harshest
mitigations, which also close casinos and video gambling. Its
seven-day averages for positive tests and ICU bed availability were
both slightly above what is allowed for looser restrictions. The
positive test average for the prior week stood at 8.8% on Jan. 16,
with state mandates easing below 8%. Will and Kankakee counties also
face that strictest level of mitigations, although the positive test
rate just fell below the state threshold to 7.5%.
The IDPH said the fall restrictions were necessary as COVID-19 cases
spiked across the nation. “By operating with consistent and
meaningful mitigations throughout the holiday season, Illinois has
saved lives, brought down community risk and set ourselves up to
safely reduce these mitigations. This approach has allowed the state
to be in its strongest position to combat the virus since the
pandemic began, as the administration prepares to proceed with Phase
1B of Illinois’ vaccine distribution plan.
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