Governor J.B. Pritzker has issued new guidance for Illinois businesses heading into Phase 4 on Friday. Working with public health officials and business representatives, guidelines were developed to keep workers and customers safe as the economy recovers. 400,000 workers are set to return to work in the next phase.
Phase 4 allows for the safe reopening or expansion of several key business segments – such as health and fitness centers, movies and theaters, museums and zoos, as well as indoor dining at restaurants. Phase 4 will allow 50 or fewer people to gather in public places. This expanded gathering limit extends to key activities like meetings, events, and funerals. For full guidance and other resources visit: Illinois.gov/businessguidelines.
According to the Governor’s Office, more than 150 businesses and regional partners were consulted on the guidelines developed with IDPH to ensure alignment with the State’s Restore Framework and the latest public health data. To ensure businesses can reopen safely, the state released a common set of standards expected of all employers, while also outlining industry-specific guidelines using a risk-based approach to support operational needs of businesses across the state.
Venues and meeting spaces can resume with the lesser of up to 50 people OR 50% of overall room capacity. Multiple groups are permitted given facilities have space to appropriately social distance and can limit interaction between groups. This includes activities such as conferences and weddings. Indoor recreation, movie theaters, and indoor dining will all be allowed under restrictions to resume in Phase 4. Revised guidelines allow competitive game play and tournaments; youth and recreational sports venues can operate at 50% of facility capacity, 20% seating capacity for spectators, and group sizes up to 50 with multiple groups permitted during practice and competitive games given venues have space to appropriately social distance and can limit interaction between groups; concessions will be permitted with restrictions.
To help businesses prepare to reopen and remain in compliance with new guidelines over the next two weeks, DCEO has released a new set of downloadable business toolkits and checklists. While Phase 4 marks the return of 7 percent of the state’s workforce, it accounts for about $30 billion in annual GDP returned to operations and represents continuous progress towards fully reopening the state’s economy.