Will, Kankakee counties join Metro East in COVID crackdown

No indoor bar, restaurant service as of Wednesday

Anglers fish the Kankakee River in Momence in Kankakee County.

By Ted Cox

The Illinois Department of Public Health and the governor moved to impose renewed pandemic restrictions on Will and Kankakee counties Monday.

Also known as Region 7 in the state’s Restore Illinois plan, the two counties join the Metro East area, Region 4, in facing new mitigation efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19. Gov. Pritzker imposed renewed restrictions on Metro East across the Mississippi River from St. Louis a week ago.

Like Metro East, Will and Kankakee counties fell victim to three straight days of COVID-19 testing positivity rates rising above 8 percent, triggering a step back in reopening the economy in the pandemic.

Mitigation efforts are even more strict in the counties south of Chicago, however, as there will be no indoor service permitted at bars or restaurants. Metro East simply had its hours limited to bring the region into the same restrictions imposed in St. Louis. Pritzer explained last week that was intended to keep people on either side of the Mississippi from trying to take advantage of looser restrictions across the river.

Starting Wednesday, Region 7 will allow no indoor service, and outdoor bars and restaurants will close at 11 p.m. Tables must be spread 6 feet apart, with reservations required in both bars and restaurants. Other social gatherings will be limited to 25 people, with party buses banned.

The restrictions do not apply to schools, but will be in effect for at least two weeks as state officials monitor progress. After two weeks, in Metro East as in Region 7, restrictions could be eased back to where they were if progress is made, or new restrictions could be imposed in the outbreak worsens.

The Department of Public Health reported 1,612 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus Monday, to bring the state total to 221,790, while eight new deaths attributed to COVID-19 took the statewide toll to 7,888. But the seven-day positivity rate for testing actually declined from Friday, when the state put 20 counties on notice for rising COVID-19 infections, to 4.2 percent.