Illinois Could Fully Reopen In A Little Over A Month

Some serious loosening of restrictions could come as early as next weekend. 

Governor Pritzker announced on Thursday that coronavirus restrictions in Illinois would loosen by May 14th with a possible full opening of the state a month later.

The state of Illinois will enter what is being called the "Bridge Stage" on May 14th.

ChicagoTribune - During the bridge phase the state will keep an eye on a host of metrics that point to the coronavirus situation statewide including whether COVID-19 deaths, cases, and hospitalizations decline and benchmarks for the share of people are vaccinated. If numbers stay under control Pritzker siad the state is eying a full reopening June 11. If the ourbreak worsens the plan lays out the benchmarks that would requre restrictions to ramp back up.

There are not any clear indicators of what "under control" means at this point. You can check out the state's latest coronavirus numbers here. 

One thing we do know is that the bridge phase will be great news to those in the entertainment industry.

The dining industry won't see much of a change outside of Chicago, with really only an increase from 25% to 50% capacity for outdoor patios.

Gyms, offices, salons, and retail stores also see a small increase of 50% to 60% capacity.

Amusement parks and museums will see a lot more guests when their capacity is increased from 25% to 60%.

Indoor social events like weddings and funerals will see capacity increased from 50 people to 250 people.

Meetings and conventions will see a huge increase from 50 people to 1,000.

And sporting events and theaters are the huge winners here. Previously indoor events were capped at 50 people and outdoor events, if people were even being allowed in were capped at 25% capacity. Now both can operate at 60%.

Then if all goes well, everyone will be at 100% open on June 11th. Vaccines are now readily available to anyone that wants it. There are several options for walk-in appointments in most if not all cities in the state.

Masks will still be required when recommended by the CDC but it will be very nice to get things looking back to normal now that Spring is officially here.