Regions 5, 7 And 8 To See Stricter Mitigations Starting Wednesday

ILLINOIS — As the weather turns cooler and indoor activities increase, the coronavirus numbers in the state have also continued moving in the wrong direction. During his press conference Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that three Restore Illinois regions will now see added mitigations.

As of Wednesday, Regions 5 (Southern Illinois), 7 (Will and Kankakee counties) and 8 (Kane and DuPage counties) will have Tier 2 mitigations imposed on them as these regions are seeing a test positivity rate that remains above 8 percent and continues to rise after more than 14 days under Tier 1 mitigations, which exceeds the threshold set for establishing additional mitigation measures under the state’s Restore Illinois Resurgence Plan.

"The virus is winning the war right now," Pritzker said. "The situation has worsened considerably in some areas of the state."

The Illinois Department of Public Health's website reports that as of Monday, Region 5 has a coronavirus positivity rate of 11.5 percent, Region 7's is 16.4 percent and Region 8 is 13.7 percent.

Region 5 has been under Tier 1 of the state’s resurgence mitigation plan since Oct. 22 and Regions 7 and 8 since Oct. 23, after seeing a 7-day rolling average test positivity rate of 8 percent or above for three consecutive days.

According to Tier 2 of IDPH's mitigation plan, additional restrictions at bars and restaurants would limit party sizes to six people instead of 10. Gatherings, both indoor and outdoor, would be limited to 10 people, though that does not apply to students learning in person or to sports.

Groups participating in organized recreational activities will also be limited to 10 people, but that restriction does not apply to fitness centers, according to the IDPH's plan.

A complete list of mitigation measures taking effect Wednesday include the following:

Bars and Restaurants

• Reduce party size from 10 to six individuals

Meetings, Social Events and Gatherings

• Maximum indoor/outdoor gathering size of 10 individuals
• Not applicable to sports, see sports guidance
• Not applicable to students participating in-person classroom learning
• This does not reduce the overall facility capacity dictated by general business guidance, such as office, retail, etc.
• Applicable to professional, cultural and social group gatherings

Organized Group Recreational Activities

• Limit to lesser of 25 guests or 25 percent of overall room capacity both indoors and outdoors
• Groups limited to 10 individuals or fewer
• Does not apply to fitness centers

These mitigations do not apply to schools.

"Mitigations are only effective if they are followed," Pritzker said. "Too many local officials across the state are ignoring their local public health departments and doing nothing in assisting their residents in following the most basic COVID-19 guidelines. Some elected officials are allowing this rise in positivity to balloon out of control while taking no action."

IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said during the conference that COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have continued to increase, and "science tells us that when you are in close contact with someone, there is an increased risk for virus transmission."

"We must reduce the opportunities for the virus to spread. Only when the virus can no longer sustainably spread can we end this pandemic," she said. "It will take all of us working together, so please, be part of the solution and not the problem and help us reduce the risk of spread."