6 Regions To See Restrictions Starting Wednesday

ILLINOIS — Six of the state's 11 Restore Illinois regions will be under coronavirus resurgence mitigations by Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during his press conference Monday.

State public health officials announced new restrictions in Metro East and Suburban Cook County — Regions 4 and 10 — which will take effect Wednesday.

It marks the first time that additional mitigation measures will be applied to Cook County suburbs. Similar restrictions are already in place in Regions 7 and 8, including DuPage, Kane, Kankakee and Will counties, as well as in Regions 1 and 5.

Indoor service at bars and restaurants will be forbidden, establishments must close at 11 p.m., and gatherings will be limited to a maximum of 25 people.

Pritzker said Region 10 is the only region that not only reached the warning level for positivity rate, but also for the sustained increase in hospital admissions for coronavirus-like illnesses over the past 10 days, mirroring the "concerning" trends in hospitals across the state.

"Cases, positivity, hospitalizations are all rising across the state of Illinois, and we have got to reverse the trend and slow the spread of the virus," he said.

As of Monday morning, Region 2 had a positivity rate of 7.2 percent, which, although lower than all the other regions, is "nothing to write home about," the governor said. The region is also seeing a slight uptick in hospitalizations after levelling off in August and September.

Pritzker reminded everyone that even though health officials now know more about the virus, it is not going away and is "constantly looking for new hosts." According to Pritzker, one of the best tools against the coronavirus is testing.

In the last two weeks alone, he said, testing has gone up 20 percent in Region 2, and he urged all Illinois residents to make use of the fast, free testing services the state is offering. More information on the testing sites can be found here.

Region 11, which includes Chicago, had a positivity rate of 7.7 percent, and Regions 3 and 6 are at 7.8 percent as of Monday, Pritzker said.

The positivity rate in Region 9 — Lake and McHenry counties — topped 8 percent for the first time. If the regional rate remains at or above 8 percent for two more days, it could also see additional restrictions by the end of this week, he said.

"There seems to be a COVID-19 storm on the rise, and we have to get prepared," Pritzker said. "In the last 24 hours, we have lost another 17 people in the battle of COVID-19. Those are people whose families thought they would get to see them at the Thanksgiving table. These are our friends and family members now gone from our lives. May their memories be for a blessing."

There are over 2,500 Illinoisans fighting this virus in the hospitals and the numbers will increase in the coming weeks, Pritzker said Monday, with many of them experiencing lasting damage to their lungs and other internal organs.

"Let's be good to one another," he said, "and for the remaining months 'til we have a vaccine or an effective treatment, let's follow the rules and keep each other safe. Please, Illinois, mask up."