CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Mayor Lightfoot and other city officials announced Thursday a retightening of COVID-19 restrictions, including a two-week "business curfew," in response to a recent, rapid rise in cases and hospitalizations over the past two weeks.
Effective Friday, a business curfew will be in effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for all non-essential businesses. Restaurants may continue operating for take-out or delivery, but indoor or outdoor consumption of food or alcohol must cease at 10 p.m.
All liquor sales will be closed as of 9 p.m. across the city - including sales at restaurants, cocktails to go, and any other alcohol sales. Meanwhile, all bars, taverns, or breweries that don't operate with a food license will no longer be permitted to serve customers inside at any time.
All other existing restrictions remain in place, including indoor capacity limits of 40 percent or 50 people within a room or space.
"And as with the first surge, exceptions will be made for essential businesses like grocery stores, pharmacies, and restaurant delivery and takeout services," Lightfoot said.
Additionally, the Mayor asked all Chicagoans to refrain from gatherings of more than six people, as well as social gatherings of any sort after 10 p.m.
"We are taking these measures to avoid potential catastrophic impacts later," Lightfoot said.
These restrictions and guidelines will be in effect for at least two weeks and are targeted to help Chicago manage an alarming recent rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
"COVID-19 thrives in places and in circumstances where people let their guard down. As the weather cools and people move indoors, the risk of the spread rises exponentially," Lightfoot said. "That is why we have been preaching about limiting the size of gatherings, about wearing a mask everywhere...Compounding all of this is reports we're now seeing, uptick again of large groups of people gathering without social distancing, and worse, without masks. Now, some of it, of course, is a misplaced sense that those you know don't have it. That's wrong. Some of it is COVID fatigue, which we get. Some of it is simply being irresponsible. Whatever the case, the fact remains: We have to wear masks. We have to social distance. We have to engage in hand-washing and all the other socially responsible public health guidelines that we have been talking about since March. We have to remain vigilant. COVID-19 has not gone away. It has not disappeared. We are not out of this crisis and this pandemic," Lightfoot said.
Over the past week alone, cases have risen by 54 percent, to over 640 per day. While daily testing has increased to over 11,000 tests per day, the positivity rate has also risen to 6.4 percent, which means that that the increase in testing does not fully explain the rise in cases. This is coinciding with a worrying increase in hospitalizations, which for non-ICU COVID patients and suspected cases are up 45 percent since Sept. 22.
"We are no doubt in the second surge," Lightfoot said.
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Under the State of Illinois guidelines, the Chicago region will face additional mitigation measures, including reduced capacity of all gatherings and closure of indoor dining, if the positivity rate rises above 8 percent for three straight days.
Mayor Lightfoot also warned against the possibility of moving back into Phase 3 and even going back to shelter in place.
"What none of us want is even further restrictions as we move into the holiday season, impacting Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas traditions, but that is exactly the path that we are on right now if we do not take heed and adhere to the tools that got us to a better place in the first place...If we need to take further steps and move back into Phase 3 or even going back to shelter in place, I'm not gonna hesitate to do that. I hope that won't be necessary, but it's all in your hands," Lightfoot said.
"I want to emphasize the one thing each of us can control is who we come in contact with, who comes into our home, how many times we're out in public. That has gotta be something we think more seriously about as we see this second case surge happening. I don't want to put more restrictions in our city. No one does. But I have to do what is right to save lives. And if that means rolling back further, I will."
CDPH Commissioner Dr. Arwady said approximately 7,055 people are active right now — they're infectious and have been tested. More than 80,000 people have recovered. More than 3,000 have died.
"We know, across the U.S., between 5 and 10 times this number have actually gotten COVID. Everybody is not being tested. Our testing rates are quite good here, so where we look at our testing numbers, our death numbers...our estimate here is that it's in in the 5-7 times range. Which means right now between 35,000 and 50,000 Chicagoans have active, meaning infectious COVID right now," Dr. Arwady said.
This is why large gatherings and even small gatherings "are posing significant health risks right now. There is a 30 percent chance that someone in a group of 25 people has COVID-19. There is a 50 percent change that someone in a group of 50 has COVID-19."
Even in a group of 10, there's a 14 percent chance someone has COVID-19, Dr. Arwady said.
“The data tell us we’re in the midst of a second surge, and it’s a call to action to re-double our efforts to fight COVID-19,” Dr. Arwady said. ”We bent the curve once and I know we can do it again by closely adhering to the public health guidance. We don’t take this move lightly but to be clear, this is about saving lives.”