Suburban Cook, Chicago can resume limited indoor dining

Suburban Cook County and Chicago can resume limited indoor dining effective today.

The two areas have moved into Tier 1 under the state’s COVID-19 mitigation plan, state officials said this morning in an announcement that had been widely anticipated.

Rules under Tier 1 mitigation restrictions allow bars and restaurants to offer indoor service to 25 guests or 25% capacity, whichever is less.

Establishments must close at 11 p.m. and reopen no earlier than 6 a.m., and must serve food to be open for indoor service. There is a limit of two-hour reservations and four people per party. Tables must be 6 feet apart with no ordering or seating at the bar counter.

Meetings, events and social gatherings are limited to under 25 people or 25% of the overall room capacity, both indoors and outdoors, whichever is less. Under Tier 2 restrictions, gatherings were limited to 10 people.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also reported today 5,152 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, including 97 additional deaths from the respiratory disease.

Those who died included 26 people in Cook County, four people in DuPage County, four people in Kane County, 13 people in Lake County and one person in McHenry County.

Altogether, there have been 1,098,527 cases of the disease, including 18,711 deaths, across Illinois.

State health officials said they will continue to monitor test positivity, ICU bed availability and the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19.

“Should data show regions trending in the wrong direction, based on the established mitigation metrics, regions could once again find themselves in a higher tier with increased measures,” the announcement said.

The three concurrent factors that allowed moving from Tier 2 to Tier 1 are: a test positivity rate between 6.5% and 8% for three consecutive days; staffed ICU bed availability greater than 20% for three consecutive days; and no sustained increase in COVID-19 patients in hospitals.

As of Friday night, 3,121 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 644 patients were in the ICU and 338 patients were on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests is 4.9%, while test positivity is 6.0%.

The state was divided into 11 health regions during the pandemic.

Suburban Cook County and Chicago are in regions 10 and 11, respectively. Region 9, which includes Lake and McHenry counties, and Region 8, which includes Kane and DuPage counties, are still under Tier 2 mitigation rules.

Restaurateurs Friday learned the dining change was imminent and welcomed the news.

“We’ve had so many people calling and asking, ‘Are you doing dine-in?'” said Don’s Dock Seafood manager Natalie Johnson. “It’ll be nice to be able to say ‘yes,’ even though it will be limited.”

Don’s Dock, which operates in a small building at 1220 E. Northwest Hwy. in Des Plaines, had only 10 tables for dine-in service before the pandemic. When that service resumes, Johnson said, the staff probably will set up only two or three tables to ensure social distancing and to leave enough room for people placing orders at the counter.

But the timing is perfect, with Mardi Gras and the Lenten season approaching, Johnson said. Both typically are big business for the restaurant, she said, as people want Cajun dishes during one and seafood during the other.

Derek Hanley, owner and general manager of Peggy Kinnane’s Irish Restaurant & Pub in Arlington Heights, said he’s excited to reopen the popular eatery at 8 N. Vail Ave. for dine-in customers. He started calling his wait staff Friday to see who could work Saturday. His supplier will make a special weekend delivery, too.

The pub will open for dine-in service at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

“The phone’s been ringing of the hook,” Hanley said. “I don’t want to disappoint people.”

Peggy Kinnane’s will be closed Sunday, so Hanley and his staff can prepare for Monday and what he called a “new grand opening.”

The Uptown Cafe, 24 E. Miner St. in Arlington Heights, will be ready for breakfast and lunch customers this weekend — but no more than eight tables at a time, owner Georgene Avgeris said.

Avgeris said she anticipated the status change and asked a server to be ready. However, the restaurant won’t have as many cooks or busboys as normal.

“I haven’t had a busboy since March,” Avgeris said. “I am the busboy.”

Customers at the popular family eatery should expect longer than usual wait times, she said, and they’ll have to wait outside or in their cars until tables are ready.

• Daily Herald staff writers Russell Lissau and Jake Griffin contributed to this report.