COOK COUNTY, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) --First, the city of Chicago - now suburban Cook County will be mandating that people show proof of vaccination to get into restaurants, bars and gyms, beginning the first week in January.
Suburban Cook County is seeing over 500 new cases per 100,000 population daily and the test positivity rate is 7.8 percent as of last week and The ICU capacity is at 10.8 percent bed availability, according to a news release by the Cook County Department of Public Health.
"We are concerned about how easily the Omicron variant can spread among people, especially in crowded indoor settings," said Dr. Rachel Rubin, CCDPH Co-Lead and Senior Medical Officer.
"It is very important that we implement these measures to help lower the risk of transmission.”
County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said she’s hopeful that the overwhelming majority of businesses will go along with her requirement for customers to show proof of vaccination.
“I can’t prevent people from suing me, as they have sued the governor. These suits have been unsuccessful, and I anticipate any subsequent suits will be unsuccessful as well.”
The county’s mandate affects mostly restaurants, bars and gyms - effective Jan. 3.
Under the order, businesses must display signs about the mitigations at every entrance and prominently within their facility and must develop a written protocol with details for how they will check vaccine status and how they will enforce this order.
Businesses violating these orders will be subject to inspection and possible fines, according to CCDPH.
County health officials are encouraging establishments to reconsider large New Year’s Eve events.
They say the Delta surge that began this past summer never really ended - and now with Omicron, there’s a “surge on top of a surge.”
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