Back to Phase 4, indoor dining County has 83 active COVID-19 cases
Indoor dining at bars and restaurants is back on the menu in Randolph County.
On Friday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health announced that Region 4, the Metro East, could return to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan and roll back mitigation efforts after having attained a rolling average positivity rate of 5.8%.
Region 4 - which includes Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington counties - initially moved to stricter mitigations on Aug. 18.
Under Phase 4, indoor dining and bar service can resume along with larger gathering sizes. This means groups of 10 or fewer, with tables spaced 6 feet apart in seated areas and with standing areas at no more than 25% of capacity.
"It's an absolutely wonderful, positive thing for Chester and our surrounding towns," said Linda Sympson, director of the Chester Chamber of Commerce.
Sympson said the critical improvement will be a return to inside dining.
"Some of our facilities don't have outside dining capabilities, and with the weather changing - I don't see how some of our businesses would have survived much longer," Sympson said Tuesday.
Also, she said, the move to Phase 4 "will keep people in town to eat, instead of going across the river to Missouri."
Sympson said the chamber is urging member businesses to remain in full compliance of the COVID-19 restrictions and the governor's mandate. "We don't encourage large parties and gatherings, we expect them to follow the guidelines," she added.
As of Monday, Randolph County has 83 active COVID-19 cases, according to the Randolph County Health Department. Of these, four new cases were reported Sunday and seven new cases were reported Monday. A total of 81 individuals are recovering at home with two people hospitalized.
So far the county has seen 1077 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 980 individuals released to resume normal activity and 14 deaths.
A total of 13,963 individuals have been tested. Of those, 12,886 have tested negative, for a 7.7% accumulative positivity rate.
The health department says the new cases are due to community spread and are not tied to an outbreak or an event. However, multiple households have now been exposed and the county anticipates a rise in cases. Please, continue to wear a mask in public, social distance as much as possible, refrain from physical contact, and practice good hand hygiene.
There are currently confirmed cases in communities with ZIP codes of 62217 (Baldwin), 62233 (Chester), 62237 (Coulterville), 62241 (Ellis Grove), 62242 (Evansville), 62259 (Menard Correctional Center), 62272 (Percy), 62277 (Prairie du Rocher), 62278 (Red Bud), 62288 (Steeleville) and 62286 (Sparta).