Cook County Mitigation Order, as Amended January 14, 2022

The Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) has issued a new mitigation order for its suburban Cook County jurisdiction, which includes the City of Park Ridge. This order calls for proof of vaccination for customers of indoor settings where food or drink are served for on-premises consumption, like restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues, and in fitness facilities. The county-wide order goes into effect Monday, January 3, 2022. Residents can access immunization records by visiting the Vax Verify portal.

Complaints regarding enforcement can be sent directly to the Cook County Department of Public Health or by calling 708-633-4000.

Facilities include, but are not limited to:

• Indoor dining establishments, including bars, breweries, wine / spirit tasting rooms, restaurants, private clubs, country clubs, banquet halls, dining areas within any public business that is ancillary to the main business (cafes within grocery stores, other retail, etc.) coffee shops, food courts and food halls;
• Event spaces, including hotel ballrooms and commercial event and party venues and nightclubs.
• Recreation and entertainment venues in areas where food or beverages are served, including movie theaters, live performance spaces, including live theater and live music, sports arenas, skating rinks, adult entertainment venues, arcades, bowling alleys, play spaces, family entertainment centers, billiard halls, and venues for card playing; and
• All indoor settings for recreation and exercise, including health clubs, gyms, fitness centers, hotel fitness centers, recreation centers, yoga studios, cross-fit studios, cycling studios, dance studios, fieldhouses, boxing and kickboxing gyms, and other facilities conducting group fitness classes indoors.

Under the CCDPH order businesses are required to display signage about the mitigations at every entrance and prominently within. Businesses must develop a written protocol with details for how they will check vaccine status and how they will enforce the CCDPH order. A plan template provided by Cook County is available here.  The City is reaching out to affected Park Ridge businesses to assure that they are aware of the new vaccine requirements and have access to the documentation mandated by CCDPH. 

Order 2021-11 maintains the indoor mask requirement for all people in indoor setting.  No provisions of the masking order have been altered. For more information visit the Cook County Department of Public Health.