New Coronavirus Restrictions in Chicago & Cook County

Illinois, Chicago, and Cook dinner County have issued new steerage and restrictions as COVID-19 instances proceed to rise across the nation.

Governor J.B. Pritzker has introduced an replace the state reopening plan. The Metropolis of Chicago has up to date its quarantine order for vacationers from high-incidence states and introduced the reinstatement of sure restrictions on companies. Suburban Cook dinner County has issued journey steerage mirroring Chicago’s quarantine order.

State Updates

The Governor introduced an replace to the Restore Illinois reopening plan on July 15. The plan divides the state into 11 well being areas and supplies a tiered mitigation strategy if instances of COVID-19 within the state proceed to rise.

The Metropolis of Chicago and suburban Cook dinner County at the moment are in separate areas. The North Suburban area consists of Lake and McHenry County. The West Suburban area consists of DuPage and Kane County. The South Suburban area consists of Kankakee and Will County. The remainder of the state is split into the North, North-Central, West-Central, Metro East, Southern, and East-Central areas.

The state will take into account implementing mitigation actions outlined within the reopening plan if a area experiences:

Three consecutive days averaging better than or equal to an eight-percent positivity fee; or

A sustained enhance in positivity fee over a seven-day rolling common and both:

(a) A sustained seven-day enhance in hospital admissions for COVID-19-like sickness; or

(b) A discount in hospital capability threatening surge capabilities (ICU capability or medical/surgical beds beneath 20 p.c).

It’s unclear how the mitigation procedures shall be carried out or if extra mitigation actions shall be thought of.

The mitigation choices (Tier 1 is the least restrictive; Tier Three is probably the most restrictive) are listed by trade or exercise, together with:

Bars and eating places

Hospitals

Conferences, social occasions, and non secular gatherings

Places of work

Organized group leisure actions, gyms, and health facilities

Retail

Salons and private care

In Tier 1, workplaces could also be required to institute distant work for high-risk people and proceed to emphasise telework for as many employees as potential. Conferences, social occasions, and non secular gatherings might have extra limits imposed. Bars and eating places may have to cut back indoor eating capability.

In Tier 2, workplaces could also be required to cut back capability, with suggestions to renew distant work. Retailers might should droop in-person non-essential retail and make on-line and curbside pick-up out there. Bars and eating places might have to droop indoor eating and bar service.

In Tier 3, workplaces could also be required to institute distant work for all non-essential employees. All non-essential retail could also be suspended. Bars and eating places might droop in-person eating.

Chicago Quarantine Order, Restrictions on Companies

The Chicago Division of Public Well being has issued an Emergency Journey Order requiring vacationers coming into or returning to Chicago from states with a mean COVID-19 case fee better than 15 new instances per 100,000 residents to quarantine for 14 days or the length of their keep in Chicago, whichever is shorter. The order applies solely to people who’ve spent greater than 24 hours in a delegated state.

In the course of the quarantine interval, people should not be in public or in any other case go away their chosen dwelling, until to hunt medical care or COVID-19 testing. If in search of medical care or testing, or when touring to or from the airport, practice station, or bus station upon arrival or departure, people topic to the order should put on a face masking and should not use public transportation.

The FAQs related to the order state that “important employees” should not topic to the necessary self-quarantine if they’re:

A non-resident of Chicago, are touring from a delegated state to Chicago for the first function of finishing up their main work in Chicago, and have to be bodily current in Chicago to hold out that main work; or

A resident of Chicago, are coming back from a delegated state, had been within the designated state for the first function of finishing up their main work in that state, and wanted to be bodily current in that state to hold out that main work.

“Important employee” is an individual who works in important infrastructure, as designated by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company. The definition additionally consists of any state, native, and federal officers and staff touring of their official capacities on authorities enterprise, together with army service. Nonetheless, a necessary employee whose journey was for non-work functions is topic to the necessary self-quarantine and isn’t coated by this exception.

Different exceptions to the order for private journey additionally shall be permitted for journey associated to medical care or parental shared custody preparations. Moreover, the Commissioner of Well being might grant an exemption based mostly upon a company’s or enterprise’s testing and different management insurance policies, or in sure extraordinary circumstances, topic to phrases and circumstances imposed by the Commissioner within the curiosity of public well being. The method for acquiring such an exemption is unclear.

The states initially coated by the order included:

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Louisiana

Mississippi

Nevada

North Carolina

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Twelve days later, the listing was up to date to incorporate Iowa and Oklahoma as a result of growing charges of COVID-19 instances in these states. Kansas was added on July 21. The listing shall be up to date each Tuesday, with adjustments going into impact on the next Friday.

Moreover, the Metropolis of Chicago has introduced reinstatement of sure restrictions in mild of an uptick in COVID-19 instances in Chicago and surging COVID-19 exercise in different states. The next restrictions will go into impact on July 24, at 12:01 a.m.:

Bars, taverns, breweries, and different institutions that serve alcohol for on-site consumption and not using a retail meals license will now not be capable to serve prospects indoors.

Eating places that serve alcohol shall be allowed to proceed to function so long as they abide by ongoing COVID-19 steerage and current rules.

Institutions that don’t serve meals should still present outside service as they did throughout Part Three of the Metropolis’s reopening plan.

Most celebration measurement and desk occupancy at eating places, bars, taverns, and breweries shall be lowered to 6 folks.

Indoor health class measurement shall be lowered to a most of 10 folks.

Private companies requiring the removing of face coverings, resembling shaves and facials, will now not be permitted.

Residential property managers shall be requested to restrict visitor entry to 5 per unit to keep away from indoor gatherings and events.

Cook dinner County Division of Public Well being Journey Steerage

The Cook dinner County Division of Public Well being issued journey steerage directing vacationers to suburban Cook dinner County coming from 17 COVID-19 hotspots to quarantine for 14 days following their final contact with the recognized state. The steerage excludes the Metropolis of Evanston and Village of Skokie.

As a result of the journey steerage for suburban Cook dinner County defines high-incidence states in the identical means because the Chicago Emergency Journey Order, the respective lists of designated states are the identical.

Whereas the suburban Cook dinner County pointers seem to reflect these carried out by the Metropolis of Chicago, the FAQs issued by the Cook dinner County Division of Public Well being state that, in contrast to the Metropolis of Chicago, suburban Cook dinner County’s journey steerage is barely a advice, not an order. The Cook dinner County Division of Public Well being is not going to be issuing fines or implementing the steerage. The Division’s devoted webpage supplies extra info referring to this steerage.

Reopening orders include intensive necessities creating compliance points that may range considerably relying on the particular state or native jurisdiction.