These are the new coronavirus metrics that could trigger more restrictions in Illinois
Illinois has new criteria for when regions of the state will need to tighten restrictions to address a “resurgence” of the coronavirus, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced in a press conference Wednesday.
The novel coronavirus causes the COVID-19 respiratory disease, which has killed more than 7,000 Illinois residents, according to the Department of Public Health. More than 155,500 people across the state have been infected.
The restrictions that could be employed are focused on specific industries like bars and restaurants. A region might reduce restaurant capacity or stop in-person bar service or dining altogether, for example.
The idea is to keep the state “as open as possible” with the targeted measures in areas experiencing an outbreak of the virus, state officials said.
Pritzker’s office released a list of industries that could be restricted Wednesday. It noted the list is “not exhaustive,” but it referred to bars and restaurants as higher risk settings.
The criteria for tightening restrictions is based on the rate of new diagnoses and the amount of hospital resources in newly-announced groupings of the state’s counties.
The new regional groupings pull the metro-east out of the larger Southern region. The state defines the metro-east as St. Clair, Madison, Clinton, Monroe, Randolph, Washington and Bond counties.
Here are the criteria to bring restrictions back to the metro-east or other regions of the state:
- Three consecutive days averaging at or above an 8% positivity rate. The positivity rate is the percentage of coronavirus tests that were positive. This alone will trigger restrictions.
- Or increase in the seven-day rolling average of the region’s positivity rate for seven out of 10 days.
Plus one of the following:
- An increase in hospital admissions for a COVID-19-like illness for seven days.
- Intensive care unit capacity or medical/surgical bed capacity below 20%. In other words, a reduction in hospitals’ ability to handle a surge in patients.
“Opening up our economy does not have to come with a spike in cases,” Pritzker said during the Wednesday afternoon press conference in Chicago. “Other countries have done it successfully while reducing cases and infection rates.
“... Unfortunately, outbreaks are taking place consistently and in every region of the state,” the governor added. “In just the last few weeks, we’ve had outbreaks tied to athletic camps, July 4th parties and churches.”
Pritzker said bars have been another source of spread.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, added that young people are “having higher case rates now than ever before in this pandemic” — specifically those who are 10-19 years old and 20-29 years old.
All of Illinois’ counties entered Phase 4 of the governor’s five-phase reopening plan nearly three weeks ago on June 26.
Illinoisans could gather in groups of up to 50 people again, eat inside restaurants and visit bars, gyms and movie theaters, among other businesses. The reopening plan calls for face coverings such as masks when people cannot stay at least 6 feet away from each other, experts’ recommended distance to help prevent the virus from spreading.
Counties moved through the first four phases of the reopening plan in 28-day increments. But a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 is needed before they can move into the fifth and final phase.
“It’s imperative that individuals, families, workers and businesses follow the recommendations doctors have given about vital mitigations and that we act quickly if we see any outbreaks and upticks, signs that could lead to a surge of coronavirus infections,” Pritzker said Wednesday.
The state will work with municipalities to decide which restrictions are needed, according to Pritzker.
Some of the new metrics used to determine when restrictions will be put in place are available to the public at dph.illinois.gov/countymetrics for each county.
Here is how many coronavirus tests were positive in each of the metro-east’s counties from June 28-July 4:
Washington County: 5.3%
- St. Clair County: 4.7%
- Madison County: 4.6%
- Clinton County: 3.1%
- Monroe County: 2.9%
- Randolph County: 2.1%
- Bond County: 1.7%
For all of the counties, 45.8% of the ICU beds were available in the same timeframe, the state’s website shows.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 1:09 PM.
