Coronavirus Restrictions Halt Indoor Dining In Winnetka, Glencoe

WINNETKA, IL — Indoor dining at restaurants in Winnetka and Glencoe will be forbidden starting Wednesday, as state public health officials announced new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. All service inside bars and restaurants in suburban Cook County will be off-limits, all outdoor eating or drinking has to stop by 11 p.m. and gatherings will be limited to a maximum of 25 people.

“We have seen eight days of increases in test positivity and hospital admissions,” said Dr. Rachel Rubin, senior medical officer at the Cook County Department of Public Health. “The positivity rate is now 7.7%, up from 7.2% last week. Metrics like these prompted the state to mandate Tier 1 Resurgence Mitigations, similar to other counties with increased transmission.”

It marks the first time the additional mitigation measures will be applied to New Trier Township communities and the rest of the Cook County suburbs, although similar restrictions are already in place in Regions 7 and 8, including DuPage, Kane, Kankakee and Will counties.

“Our mitigation measures are responsive to the data, which is showing higher rates among people under age 30,” Rubin said. “Everyone is at risk, including young people. While they tend not to get as sick from COVID-19, they can still become seriously ill and spread the infection to their grandparents, co-workers, family, and friends.”

According to data from the Cook County Department of Public Health, the average number of new confirmed cases in both Winnetka and Glencoe had fallen from the start of September through Wednesday, the most recent day where data is available — dropping by nearly 50 percent in Winnetka and 30 percent in Glencoe compared to the prior two weeks.

For the week ending Oct. 17, there were 5 new cases reported in Winnetka and fewer than five in Glencoe. Winnetka's per capita rate was 1,608 confirmed cases per 100,000 people, while Glencoe's was 1,123 per 100,000 people.

During that same period, neighboring communities have seen significant growth. Northbrook's rose by 138 percent to 2,159 confirmed cases per 100,000 people, Glenview's count rose by 116 percent to 2,636 cases per 100,000, Wilmette's was up by 76 percent with a rate of 1,469 cases per 100,000 people and ZIP codes in Highland Park had a seven-day rolling average of 2,240 new cases per 100,000 residents.

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In suburban Cook County overall, the positivity rate and the rate of hospital admissions has been rising sharply. As of Thursday, the most recent day when data is available from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the rounded rolling average of daily new hospital admissions of people with symptoms of COVID-19 had risen to 49 — more than doubling since the start of October.

“We are seeing test positivity across the state increase, but for Region 10, Suburban Cook County, we are also seeing a steady increase in hospitalizations for COVID-like illness,” IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a statement announcing the new restrictions. “At the beginning of the pandemic, we were concerned about overwhelming our hospitals, and we must take action now to prevent that possibility."

With Monday's announcement of new measures in suburban Cook County, Region 10, and the re-imposition of restrictions on the Metro East region, Region 4, more than half of the state's 11 COVID-19 resurgence mitigation regions will be under some form of additional resurgence mitigation.

RELATED: Coronavirus Mitigations In Region 7, 8 Start Friday

In Region 10, suburban Cook County, the coronavirus positivity rate has risen on eight of the previous 10 days but had yet to reach the 8 percent threshold, sitting at 7.7 percent as of Thursday.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the Metro East region's new mitigation measures were triggered when its positivity rate again rose above the 8 percent mark, while suburban Cook County's was set off by a combination of 10 days of rapidly rising hospitalization rates and positivity increases.

“Over the weekend, two more regions — Region 4, Metro East, as well as Region 10, Suburban Cook County — triggered our metrics for additional mitigations, meaning that, starting Wednesday, 6 of our 11 regions will be operating under our resurgence framework,” Pritzker said.

“Much like the four areas already operating under Tier One or Tier Two of the plan — Northwestern Illinois, Southern Illinois, and Will, Kankakee, DuPage and Kane Counties — Region 4 triggered our 8 percent positivity average threshold, the second time it has done so since mid-summer," the governor said. "Region 10, on the other hand, is the first region in Illinois to earn additional mitigations not because of its positivity rate alone, but because its positivity rate and its COVID-related hospitalizations have both seen a sustained increase over the last 10 days.”

RELATED: Coronavirus Hospitalizations Hits Record High In Suburban Cook County

In order to relax the restrictions in Region 10, the positivity rate must average less than or equal to 6.5 percent for three days, the rounded average of hospital admissions must decrease over a three-day period and the rolling averages of hospital bed availability must remain above 20 percent.

If the positivity rate continued to rise and hospital admissions continue to increase for seven days out of a 10-day period, stricter mitigations — "Tier Two" measures such as are currently in place in the Rockford region — will be imposed, according to public health officials.

Ezike said hospitals must deal with rising coronavirus admissions at the same time as seasonal influenza. She urged members of the public to get a flu shot, wash their hands, wear a mask and keep their distance.

"We are entering flu season and our hospitals are facing both COVID-19 and flu admissions. The same things that can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 will help prevent the spread of flu."

Starting at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 28, the following rules take effect in all Cook County suburbs:

Bars/Restaurants

• No indoor service
• All outside service closes at 11:00 p.m.
• All patrons should be seated at tables outside
• No ordering, seating, or congregating at bars — 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

Meetings, Social Events, Gatherings

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