Lightfoot announced earlier today that Chicago would not be ready to move into Phase 3 on May 29.
As hinted yesterday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot confirms that Chicago will not move into Phase 3 of its reopening plan on May 29 despite the state giving the green light.
Earlier this week, the governor announced that every region in Illinois was on track to move into Phase 3 of Restore Illinois. In his announcement, the governor gave hope to many as Phase 3 would grant the reopening of bars and restaurants for outdoor seating along with additional facilities.
In his announcement, however, he stated that local municipalities would have the final say on whether or not to reopen these facilities at his chosen time.
Today, Lightfoot officially announced that Chicago wasn’t ready to reopen so soon, and instead would aim for a date in early June:
“We don’t have a crystal ball, but we are looking daily at the data. And I can not give you a date certain on which our transition to Phase 3 will happen. The best I can say right now is we’re hoping, and we believe it will be, in early June,” the mayor said in a press conference earlier.
Light explained that continued correspondence with health official and adherence to incoming data would inform her final decision to reopen the city to certain measures.
In order to move into Phase 3, the city would have to meet a number of requirements, including a declining rate of cases, hospitalization rates, incoming ICU patients, and deaths over a period of 2 weeks. Additionally, there would need to be fewer than:
- 1,800 COVID-19 patients in hospitals
- 600 COVID-19 patients in ICU
- 450 COVID-19 patients on ventilators
Furthermore, increased testing would need to be available entailing at least 135,000 citizens monthly. There would need to be two weeks of declining rates, and a decrease in positive rates to below 15% in communities.
Once the requirements are met, the city would be able to move forward. In Lightfoot’s plan, which is more tightly tailored to the City of Chicago than the state’s framework, such facilities would be allowed to reopen: parks (besides the lakefront), offices, childcare centers, professional services, outdoor attractions such as golf courses, barbershops, tattoo studios, retail stores, and hair salons.
[Featured image from Facebook of Lori Lightfoot]