As of Friday, Nov. 20, all 11 regions are operating under Tier 3 Resurgence Mitigations that requires all bowling centers to close.
IDPH will continue to track the positivity rates and hospital capacity metrics in regions over a 14-day monitoring period to determine if mitigations can be relaxed, if additional mitigations are required, or if current mitigation should remain in place. In order for a region to move back to Tier 2 mitigations, a region must experience less than 12 percent test positivity rate for three consecutive days AND greater than 20 percent available intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital bed availability AND declining COVID hospitalizations in 7 out of the last 10 days..
Follow the latest regional metrics at: https://dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics.
Bowling Centers are eligible for the State of Illinois' Business Interuption Grant program (BIG) as funding has been set aside specifically for businesses and industries that have been impacted by the State's closure orders. For information and to apply, click here.
ISBPA has agreed to a settlement offer with the State of Illinois on their Restore Illinois Phase 4 policies with bowling, moving our sport and industry to a more appropriate “all sports” guidance rather than the “indoor recreation” guidance originally posted by DCEO on June 22.
Here are the basic details of the agreement:
- Bowling Centers will be governed by the All Sports guidelines under the Restore Illinois Plan, rather than the indoor recreation guidelines. The current All Sports guidelines were adopted by the Governor on July 30, and can be found at the link below.
DCEO Bowling Guidelines: https://dceocovid19resources.com/assets/Restore-Illinois/businessguidelines4/bowling.pdf
DCEO All Sport Guidelines: https://dceocovid19resources.com/assets/Restore-Illinois/businessguidelines4/youthsports.pdf
- Bar or restaurant services offered at bowling centers will be governed by the guidance for bars and restaurants.
- The All Sports guidelines require a 30 foot distance between groups of 50. This may be accomplished by maintaining at least two unused lanes between groups of up to 50, which is consistent with guidance previously provided by local public health departments.
- Bowling centers will adhere to a maximum capacity of 50% of occupancy or 200 people, whichever is less, with the understanding that if COVID-19 cases should decrease and there continues to be no outbreaks associated with bowling centers, the Governor is willing to revisit that limit.
- In the event the applicable guidelines are changed in the future for all businesses covered by the applicable category, bowling centers will comply with the amended guidelines. So, if guidelines for All Sports become more restrictive, that will apply to bowling centers. Likewise, if the guidelines become less restrictive, that also will apply to bowling centers.
We have also assured the state that our members will continue to comply with procedures developed by ISBPA/BPAA Guidelines & Best Practices – see links below.
ISBPA Reopening Guidelines & Best Practices
BPAA Reopening Resource Center: https://bowlinguniversity.net/opening
ISBPA Proprietor Resources: https://www.bowlillinois.com/Home/Reopening-Resources