Governor J.B. Pritzker announced stricter rules for several Illinois regions. That includes Region 7, which includes Will County, and Region 8, which includes DuPage County.
New Mitigations
Currently, the state follows a three-tiered plan when it comes to restrictions, with Regions 7 and 8 currently in Tier 1. With the governor’s announcement today, these regions move to Tier 2 mitigations, which includes a limit of six people per table at restaurants and bars, up to 10 people at meetings and social gatherings, and a limit of 25 people, or 25% capacity for organized recreational activities.
“The virus is winning the war right now,” said Pritzker. “The situation has worsened considerably in certain areas of the state. As a result, Regions 5, 7, and 8 – that’s southern Illinois and Chicago’s south suburbs and western suburbs, will join Region 1 in Tier 2 of COVID mitigations on Wednesday.”
“If you see something say something. If you see someone a friend, coworker, or acquaintance not wearing a mask, remind them its for their own good to wear one. You care about them and that’s why your’e nudging them.”
Schools are not impacted in the move from Tier 1 to Tier 2.
How Long Will Tier 2 Last?
During the question and answer part of the press conference, Pritzker addressed how long each region could be held in Tier 2.
“When we add mitigations, this virus doesn’t react right away,” he said. “People would have been exposed before [the mitigations were put into effect], so you have to wait several days for people to show symptoms or be tested. So we say we’ll give it two weeks or sometimes three weeks to see if the mitigations will have an effect.”
If a region moves to Tier 3, non-essential businesses could be forced to temporarily close, organized indoor and outdoor activities will be suspended.
COVID-19 Metrics
Naperville’s regions continue to rise in COVID-19 metrics. Region 7’s seven-day rolling positivity rate shows an all-time high of 16.4% as of November 6. Region 8 is also at an all-time high in that metric with 13.7%. Those two regions also are at all-time worsts in terms of hospital bed availability, though neither are in the warning zone for that metric.
“Each now has a positivity rate above 13 percent, which means just about one in every seven tests in this area comes back positive,” said Pritzker. “Mitigations are only effective if they’re followed. Too many local officials across the state are ignoring their local public health departments. Some elected leaders are allowing this continued rise in positivity to balloon out of control while taking no action.”
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
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