St. Clair County deputies enforce COVID restrictions over weekend, most in compliance
St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department deputies visited several local businesses over the weekend in an effort to enforce coronavirus restrictions in the county, according to the department and County Chairman Mark Kern.
Kern said Saturday during a daily COVID-19 county update, Sheriff Rick Watson’s department had patrols out through the weekend to ensure restrictions were being followed, mainly at local businesses.
“They are out. They’re looking. They’re making sure the rules are being followed,” Kern said.
Capt. Bruce Fleshren, the Sheriff’s Department’s public information officer, said deputies are randomly visiting popular establishments throughout the county to ensure people are wearing masks and distancing themselves from one another while inside bars and restaurants.
Deputies also checked to make sure bars were not in use and that barstools had been removed, per restrictions levied on the metro-east region last week by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Fleshren said.
No citations were given over the weekend, but a few establishments were warned for having too many people inside restaurants and bars. One bar was warned for having people inside after the mandated 11 p.m. closing time.
Fleshren added that many of the more popular clubs in Centreville and Sauget are being checked every evening.
“Most places are in compliance,” Fleshren said. “We’re just going around checking various places to make sure that people are wearing a mask and socially distancing.”
Restrictions on bars and restaurants were put into place last Tuesday after Region 4 surpassed three days over the state-set 8% positivity rate threshold. The new restrictions were hoped to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the region, which includes St. Clair, Madison, Randolph, Monroe, Clinton, Bond and Washington counties.
If the county were to see a drop in positivity rate beneath 8%, those restrictions could go away or be lightened. As of Sunday, however, the region’s positivity rate had increased to 10.5%. A deadline for the region to get things under control was set for this Wednesday.
During the weekly Q&A held by the county, Kern said he doubts the region will meet that deadline and warned that people should prepare for a rollback.
“I don’t believe it’s possible to get down to the level the state wants to see by Wednesday,” Kern said. “So we have to prepare to roll back.”
If the deadline isn’t met, a new tier of restrictions will be put into place, according to the state, which would end any inside service at bars or restaurants.
As for the deputies, enforcement will continue for as long as needed, Fleshren said. He said extra precautions are being taken by the department as well, with deputies wearing masks when interacting with the public and keeping a distance is possible.
This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 12:17 PM.