Gov. Steve Morley, Mayor of Elmhurst. J.B. Pritzker is calling for the ban on indoor dining to be lifted as Dupage and Kane counties could face new stricter restrictions in an effort to slow COVD-19 infections and increase hospital admissions.
Morley has teamed up with many suburban mayors to push back against the shutdown on indoor bar and restaurant service. If imposed, subsequent level reduction measures will limit outdoor seating at bars and rest restaurants to six people per group.
In a letter to Pritzker, Morley said many small businesses “will not be able to survive the newly imposed sanctions.”
“Eliminating indoor dining during our cold weather season is alive to many restaurants in my hometown of Elmhurst and to many individuals in our great state,” Morley wrote.
The entire state is taking steps to curb the spread of COVID-19. The mayors of Libertyville and Itasca have said they will not impose a ban on meals, while several restaurateur rentos have openly denied it.
Pritzker advised local officials Thursday as Illinois reported 9,935 new COVID-19 cases jumping on Thursday, a record.
Pritzker said many local governments across the state have failed to implement any kind of measure, increasing the likelihood of the balloon getting out of control. “It’s time to take some responsibility. This is the only way we can get out of this without imposing more and more sanctions on more industries and across the state.”
Morley urged Pritzker to “pave the way for allowing indoor dining.” Morley said the progress to be made should also take into account the care and delivery rate of COVID-19 hospital patients.
But hospital officials are warning staff concerns in view of the drop in patients and the increase in winter while limiting the pool of health care workers available to help respond to COVID-19 in large hotspots across the country.
Mkto. Of the 45 patients on the 30th, 61 patients were treated at Elmhurst Hospital with confirmed cases of COVID-19 by Thursday morning.
Some local officials have also questioned the extent to which the increase in infection is linked to the transmission of the restaurant, which received indoor dining from June to the October 23 shutdown.
The governor’s office last month published a study of more than 17,000 Illinois residents who became infected with the virus in August or September. The largest group – 2,300 people – reported working or visiting a bar or restaurant in the 14 days before a positive test.
“To date, we have not been provided with data that show that rest restaurants are the reason for the increase in rent positivity rate,” Morley said.
But Dupage County Health Department officials said rest restaurants rent and bars are considered environments where transmission can occur at high levels due to indoor social gatherings other than physical distance, tight spaces and eating and drinking masks.
The Department of Health also pointed to recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies showing that adults with COVID-1 were almost twice as likely to report eating at a restaurant in the 14 days they became ill. “
A statement from the Department of Health stated, “We know that indoors, with people you have not lived with for a long time, and without masks and in close proximity to speech and droplets contribute to the transmission of COVID-19. “
Morley said he is confident officers can create a plan that is “safe, acceptable and reasonable” while giving businesses a chance to survive the epidemic.
“We will continue to do our part to educate the public and business owners about the risks, restrictions and preventive safety measures against the spread of the virus,” Morley wrote. “We take the safety of our community seriously, as well as our responsibility to the business community.”
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