PRITZKER SAYS INDOOR DINING COULD BE ON THE MENU IN SOUTH SUBURBS

Gov. J.B. Pritzker might soon lift the coronavirus timeout he imposed last month on the far south suburbs, as public health officials on Thursday announced the latest set of generally encouraging COVID-19 numbers.

Another 1,941 people statewide were confirmed to carry the virus among 52,311 tests submitted to the Illinois Department of Public Health. That raised the state’s positivity rate over the last week by a notch to 3.7%, but that key gauge of how quickly the virus is spreading is still down almost a full percentage point over the last two weeks.

And it’s sunk to 6.4% in Will and Kankakee counties, where Pritzker banned indoor dining in late August after positivity rates soared over 8% across the region. If it stays below 6.5% for three days, restrictions will be lifted.

“Masks, distance, hand-washing, enforcement — it all works, and Will and Kankakee counties are, so far, getting the job done. And we’re all rooting for them,” the Democratic governor said during a Loop news conference.

But the Illinois Department of Public Health also announced its worst daily COVID-19 death toll since the start of month as the virus claimed 35 more lives, including a Cook County man in his 30s. Since March, 8,367 people have died after contracting the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, during a virtual meeting of the City Council’s Health and Human Relations Committee called to update aldermen on the city’s response to the coronavirus, Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said she’s concerned about all of the “misinformation out there.”

“In the same way that masks have been politicized, I’m worried that the vaccine may be politicized, particularly heading into the federal election,” Arwady said.

“We want to have calm, sober messaging based on science here in Chicago about vaccines . . . We’ll be working very hard on an uptick in trust there.”

Ald. Michele Smith (43rd) said her North Side constituents don’t like that the pandemic and all of its closures have dragged on.

“It’s really hurting our economy. It’s hurting everyday life and our schools,” Smith told Arwady.