Winnetka Returns To Phase 4 Of Restore Illinois Plan: What's New?

WINNETKA, IL — For the first time since October, Winnetka, Glencoe, Northfield and the rest of suburban Cook County on Tuesday returned to Phase 4 of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's Restore Illinois reopening plan.

The shift in state-mandated coronavirus mitigation measures means bars and restaurants can allow parties of up to six people instead of four, and there are no longer any food service requirements.

Under Phase 4, the maximum permitted gathering size under Pritzker's executive orders has doubled from 25 to 50, with movie theaters and indoor performances again allowed in New Trier Township communities.

The new phase allows some indoor recreational facilities to reopen, including skating rinks, bowling alleys, arcades and driving ranges. Amusement parks, indoor playgrounds and trampoline parks must remain closed, according to guidelines from the Pritzker administration.

Group sizes of up to 50 are also allowed for outdoor recreation, and ticketed outdoor spectator events are permitted with up to 20 percent capacity.

Rules for retailers and service providers remain the same as the region moves from Tier 1 mitigation measures to Phase 4 — occupancy is capped at 50 percent and masks are mandatory.

After state officials announced the relaxed regional regulations, Cook County Department of Public Health Senior Medical Officer Dr. Rachel Rubin issued a new order declaring "additional mitigation measures are necessary to protect the public health."

The department's new order adds some restrictions to the state's Phase 4 requirements, such as a 25-person cap on social gatherings, a 10-person limit private indoor gatherings, on size as a well as a 25-patron, or 25 percent capacity, maximum for indoor dining.

"Bars, taverns or breweries without a food license can reopen indoors as long as they partner with a food establishment (e.g., making menus available and allowing delivery, allowing patrons to order from third-party delivery services)," it said. "Indoor and outdoor table size limited to no more than six people."

This week's loosening of COVID-19 restrictions was triggered by declines in the coronavirus positivity rate and number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in suburban Cook County, Region 10 in the Restore Illinois plan.

Suburban Cook County's seven-day test positivity rate fell below 6.5 percent last week and has remained so for the past three days. It stood at 5.8 percent Saturday, the most recent day for which data is available.

The number of COVID-19 patients in the region's hospitals has also continued to drop, falling on each of the previous 30 days. Since the start of the year, the seven-day rolling average of people in suburban Cook County hospitals diagnosed with COVID has fallen by nearly 40 percent, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The hospitals also had to keep at least one in five staffed intensive care unit beds empty to qualify for a reduction in regional mitigation measures.

After reaching a peak of 84 percent of capacity in mid-December, average ICU bed availability in Region 10 has exceeded the 20 percent threshold for more than a month. (On Jan. 18, the Pritzker administration eliminated the Restore Illinois plan's requirement that regions keep at least 20 percent of their surgical beds both empty and staffed to be eligible for reduced restrictions.)

In Winnetka, there were 25 new COVID-19 cases reported last week, for a weekly per capita case rate of 205 per 100,000, below the average for the Cook County suburbs, according to the most recent data available from the Cook County Department of Public Health.

Glencoe's rate stood at 218 per 100,000, while the incidence rate was just 166 per 100,000 in Northfield — the only community in the township to have yet reported a lower coronavirus rate than Chicago.

According Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, five residents of Northfield, four residents of Glencoe and three residents of Winnetka have died due to COVID-19 — two of them since the start of the year.

Phase 4 is the least restrictive phase of the governor's reopening plan Illinois has seen since its coronavirus outbreak began.

In December, Pritzker indicated he is unlikely to order the state shifted to Phase 5 of the plan, which would allow conventions, festivals and other large events, until widespread vaccinations allow the state to reach a form of herd immunity.

According to state public health officials, about 44,000 suburban Cook County had reported being fully vaccinated as of Tuesday morning, and nearly 100,000 others had gotten a first dose. More than 227,000 people have gotten both doses statewide.

Illinois ranked 43rd among states in its per capita number of vaccines administered, as of Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, trailing all of the largest 10 states in the country.