The Illinois Department of Public Health announced that Region 7, which includes Will County, will move to Tier 1 mitigations in the Restore Illinois plan.
New Mitigations
That means indoor dining will be allowed for up to 25 people or 25% capacity, whichever is reached first, for bars and restaurants. Establishments must close by 11 p.m., require reservations for all guests, and limit guests to groups of four, with set two-hour time limits for dining.
Social gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and potlucks will also be able to be held at 25% capacity in Tier 1. A full list of Tier 1 mitigations is available on the IDPH website.
IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike said in a statement that this is good news, but Illinoisans must continue to take all necessary precautions in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Changes to Sports
Tier 1 also allows any sport in the low-risk or medium-risk category to begin playing competitive games, while high-risk sports such as basketball and football, may begin practicing in full.
The current list of risk levels from the IDPH for each sport are as follows:
- Lower risk: archery, badminton, baseball, bass fishing, bowling, climbing, competitive cheer, competitive dance, crew, cross country, cycling, disc golf, fencing, gymnastics, horseback riding, ice skating, ropes courses, sailing/canoeing/kayaking, scholastic golf, sideline spirit, skateboarding, softball, skiing, swimming/diving, tennis, track and field, weight lifting.
- Medium risk: flag football/7-on-7 football, futsal, paintball, racquetball, soccer, volleyball, water polo, wheelchair basketball
- Higher risk: basketball, boxing, football, hockey, lacrosse, martial arts, rugby, ultimate frisbee, wrestling.
Metrics Met
Region 7 met the criteria to move from Tier 3 straight to Tier 1 by maintaining seven-day rolling averages for positivity rate between 6.5% and 8% for three consecutive days, staffed ICU bed availability above 20% for three consecutive days, and no sustained increase in COVID-positive hospital patients for seven out of 10 days.
The most recent available IDPH data shows Region 7 at 7.4% in the positivity rate metric, 25% for staffed ICU bed metric, and a decrease in hospital patients for all but one day since November 26.
Region 8
Region 8, which includes DuPage County, is also moving in the right direction and could be close to joining Region 7 in Tier 1. Region 8 meets the required metric for hospital bed availability, with 29% as of January 19.
Region 8 seven-day rolling positivity rate
Region 8 Hospital Bed Availability
However, the region falls just short for positivity rate and hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Region 8’s seven-day rolling positivity rate sits at 8.2% and has six out of 10 days of decreased COVID-19 patients in the hospital.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
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