Many bar and restaurant owners in southern Illinois are not happy they're being told to shut down their indoor service because of rising COVID-19 metrics.
Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike says the state isn't targeting bars and restaurants with stricter mitigations for no reason. She says contact tracing efforts have shown the top three spreaders of the virus are schools, workplaces as well as bars and restaurants.
"We're not going to not have people go to school. We're letting local health departments and school administrators decide for themselves what's appropriate regarding school. Then, in terms of workplace, there are people who cannot work from home. They have to go to work. So, the next thing we can actually act on is the bars and restaurants."
Governor J-B Pritzker says he will continue with resurgence mitigation measures that include certain regions of the state falling from Phase 4 to Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan.
