County and city continue to defy COVID-19 mitigation measures

The city of Springfield and Sangamon County continue to defy state COVID-19 mitigation measures that were to go into effect on Sunday.

During a Tuesday press conference, the county announced and released a temporary rule that a county spokesperson said goes into effect on Friday at 12:01 a.m.

Instead of restricting indoor service at bars and restaurants, as the state’s Tier One guidelines Sangamon County is under now requires, “establishments must operate their indoor public areas at no more than 25% of capacity and their outdoor public areas at no more than 50% of capacity,” per new county guidance. 

No more than 10 people will be allowed to sit at a table. Establishments must collect customer phone numbers for contact tracing. Drinking or eating while standing is not allowed, nor is counter service. 

County officials and Mayor Jim Langfelder said their plan will ease the burden on local businesses, while also addressing the fact that cases in Sangamon County are on the rise.

At the news conference, Sangamon County Department of Public Health director, Gail O’Neill, pointed to a chart showing the relative rise in cases over the past month or so. On Halloween, a new daily high of confirmed cases was reached, 123.

“As you can see on the chart behind me, we are as a community and as a county, as a region and as a state, going in the wrong direction,” she said.

Still, local officials say their plan could chart a course to bring the numbers down.

“We’re trying to give a lifeline to our restaurants and get the numbers down within the framework of the governor’s orders,” said Sangamon County board chair, Andy Van Meter. “We fully understand that if we fail in this effort, additional mitigation will be implemented.”

The county said it would track data over the next two weeks to see if its own measures are working. If not, stricter mitigation measures could go into effect.

Sangamon County sheriff, Jack Campbell, promised increased enforcement, such as spot-checks. “If you shut down those businesses, they have nothing to do, they have no livelihood. We need to consider their mental health, the depression rates, the suicide rates, the drug overdoses, alcoholism,” he said. “You’re gonna see a little stepped up enforcement to help bring these numbers down so that people can stay open, and that will be our message to them, is to encourage the voluntary compliance.”

“We’re taking proactive steps to protect our public, because nobody is tracking the other side of the equation,” said Mayor Jim Langfelder, who then had the Springfield chief of police confirm that gun violence has gone up this year.

Langfelder discouraged house parties, and said they are a common source of spread. The county’s rule allows for groups of 10 to sit together at bars and restaurants. When asked how that is different than home gatherings, Langfelder said he is a “firm believer” in six people per table. “It’s gonna take city council action to do certain things and that’s what the special meeting is about tomorrow night.”

The emergency city council meeting is slated for Wednesday to discuss COVID-19.
Update: on Wednesday, the city council passed a measure the allows police to ticket individuals not wearing masks in stores.
Contact Rachel Otwell at rotwell@illinoistimes.com.

This article appears in Best Of Springfield 2020.