Indoor Dining Opens In Elgin As Region Moves 8 To Tier 1

ELGIN, IL — Restaurants and bars in Elgin can resume indoor service after Region 8 moved to Tier 1 coronavirus mitigations Tuesday.

Public health officials lifted certain restrictions, including the ban on indoor dining, with metrics showing steady declines over the past two weeks in the positivity rate and hospitalization in Kane and DuPage counties, which make up Region 8.

However, Kane County’s pandemic death toll continues to climb at a quick rate, with 97 deaths recorded during the first 25 days of 2021, according to statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health Department. More than 660 residents have died from COVID-19 since last spring, the state’s data shows.

December was Kane County's deadliest month of the pandemic, with 131 residents dying from COVID-19, according to public health data.

Suburban Cook County, which includes parts of Elgin, returned to Tier 1 restrictions Saturday.

A return to Tier 1 restrictions means restaurants and bars can reopen their interior spaces for dining with a 25 percent capacity limit, with a maximum of 25 diners at any time. Bars that do not serve food cannot resume indoor service.

Establishments can open no earlier than 6 a.m. and must close by 11 p.m. under Tier 1 restrictions. Parties are limited to four people and reservations must be made in advance.

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Meetings, social events and gatherings can resume with a 25 percent capacity limit or maximum of 25 people, whether they are held inside or outside. Those limits do not apply to in-person learning, sports or many businesses that are now operating under Phase 4 guidelines.

High school sports cannot restart in Elgin until Region 8 reaches Phase 4 coronavirus mitigations.

To move from Tier 1 to Phase 4, Region 8 must record a positivity rate of 6.5 percent or less and at least 20 percent of ICU beds must be available for three straight days. The region must also experience no sustained increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations over a 10-day period.

The positivity rate in Region 8 stood at 7.3 percent Friday, a small increase from the day before, public health data shows. That’s the lowest it’s been since Oct. 12.

At least 20 percent of ICU beds in the region have been available for 43 straight days, as of Friday.

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations in Region 8 have decreased or remained stable for six of the past 10 days, one day short of the state's threshold.

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