NACC Asking Pritzker to Rescind Closure
The Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce (NACC) joined with other area Chambers in a letter to Governor J.B. Pritzker asking him to rescind his recent order to prohibit indoor dining for Will and Kankakee counties (Region 7).
The letter reads:
“We stand together and write to you to share our very serious concerns with the recent decision to implement what we believe are unfair restrictions targeted at the restaurant and bar industry. One of the greatest and most displeasing issues is the fact that our Region 7 has not been afforded the same opportunity as the businesses in Region 4 to reduce the number of inside patrons at bars and restaurants before moving onto harsher restrictions.”
The NACC goes on to explain that they believe bars and restaurants have been one of the most affected during the pandemic.
They are asking for the governor to reverse his decision and allow the establishments to open for indoor dining at less than 25 people or 25% capacity.
“It is unfortunate that recent spikes have driven our region over the 8% threshold. However, we fully support actions to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus through proper mask wearing, social distancing, hand washing, and additional methods of sanitization. We do not see an increase in the death rate in this region and in fact it seems to be steadily decreasing.”
Asking for State to Help
They also ask for the state and the Department of Commerce Economic Opportunity to “immediately set up a system to automatically approve all of those affected by this mandate to receive funds in the next round of the Business Interruption Grants.”
Monitoring by IDPH
The new restrictions began on August 26. At that time, the IDPH said it would track the positivity rate in Region 7 over a 14-day monitoring period to determine if mitigations can be relaxed, if additional mitigations are required, or if current mitigation should remain in place.
If the positivity rate averages less than or equal to 6.5 percent over a 14-day period, the region will return to Phase 4 mitigations under the Restore Illinois Plan. If the positivity rate averages between 6.5 percent and 8 percent, the current mitigations will remain in place, and IDPH will continue to monitor the region to determine if additional restrictions are needed.
If the positivity rate averages greater than or equal to 8 percent after 14 days, more stringent mitigations will be applied to further reduce spread of the virus.
