CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Indoor dining returns Thursday in Will and Kankakee counties.
Region 7, which includes Will and Kankakee counties, is on track to becoming the first region in the Chicago area to get the green light to resume indoor dining under Governor Pritzker's Restore Illinois Mitigation plan, IDPH announced Wednesday.
Some restaurants in the counties never stopped indoor service.
The two counties are now meeting virus metrics to allow indoor dining at 25 percent capacity or 25 people, whichever is less. Establishments offering indoor service must serve food. Indoor service is limited to a maximum of two hours per group, and groups are limited to four people at a table.
Additionally, further south, Region 6 - East Central Illinois, which includes Champaign-Urbana and Decatur, is set to move into Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan on Thursday. The region will joining Region 3 - West Central Illinois Region 5 - Southern Illinois in returning to a broader reopening and further expanding indoor dining, officials said.
In Phase 4, restaurants and bars can seat as many people as they can six feet apart. Groups of 10 people are allowed to be seated together.
It could be a matter of days before indoor dining resumes in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.
Related
State health officials on Wednesday reported eported 4,822 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease in Illinois, including 107 additional deaths. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,081,354 cases, including 18,398 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois.
As of Tuesday night, 3,284 in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 722 patients were in the ICU and 379 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from Jan. 13–19, 2021 is 5.5%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from Jan. 13–19, 2021 is 6.8%.