ALEDO, Illinois — For several counties in region two of Illinois positivity of COVID-19 cases is on the rise.
That county includes the Quad Cities. But for small towns like Aledo, the pandemic is catching up. Small businesses like Cheers on Main in Aledo, Illinois are worried another shut down could cause them big problems.
Co-owner Julie Rice says getting their business off the ground has been difficult.
“When the pandemic hit it kind of smashed all of everything for us.”
Rice says they’ve been opened since last November.
Her and her husband completely shut the bar down from March to May and then opened up a patio after that. Now with the cold weather coming, they worry that another lock down would majorly stall business again.
“I mean you just never know if you’re going to wake up that morning and see if you can come open up the bar.”
With southern Illinois and counties surrounding Chicago having more restrictions put into place, the Rice’s worry that region two is next.
The seven day rolling average of case positivity in Mercer County currently sits at 13.6%. That number is well above the 8% threshold that sends a county into a warning zone.
If that number continues to rise throughout counties throughout the region, Governor Pritzker could send the region backwards.
That could stop indoor service and close bars and restaurants at 11p.m.
Cheers on Main says its hard to plan ahead, ordering what is necessary to serve guests knowing they could potentially be shut down.
“You still have to order no matter like you normally would.”
Cheers on Main worries about a shut down before Halloween.
The bar has a Halloween party planned to bring people in and keep business up. Rice hopes they stay open, and plan to bring people in as safely as they can.
“I try to make sure that everyone is safe and happy and staying their distance.”
The bar hands out masks and sanitizer to keep guests safe.