After more than three weeks with special COVID-19 restrictions, Will County’s Region 7 will return to standard Restore Illinois Phase 4 guidelines effective at 5 p.m. today.
Rolling Positivity Rate
Region 7, which includes Will and Kankakee counties, maintained a seven-day rolling positivity rate below 6.5% for three days – the threshold to return to Phase 4. The region is currently at 5.6% on that metric.
“Today, Region 7 – Will and Kankakee Counties – will return to the standard Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan because residents chose to be all in for each other, for their small businesses, for their bars and restaurants, for their kids, for their neighbors,” said Governor J.B. Pritzker in a press release. “Let that be a testament to the power of a community that embraces doctor-recommended mitigations proven to reduce risk and slow the spread. We can’t outrun this virus, but with the tools we know to work – masks, distancing, hand-washing, and respect for public health and each other – we can beat it back enough to keep our businesses open and our neighborhoods safer all at once. Don’t let up now, Region 7 – let’s keep this success going.
Special Restrictions
The region was originally put under special restrictions, which prohibited indoor dining and forced restaurants and bars to close by 11 p.m. among other measures, after reporting a rolling positivity rate above eight percent for three consecutive days from August 22-24. Those restrictions began on August 26.
DuPage County
DuPage County has since entered the warning zone on the Illinois Department of Public Health site after two of its county-specific COVID-19 metrics exceeded set limits. In the week of August 30-September 5, DuPage exceeded the thresholds of 50 new cases per 100,000 residents, with 89 per 100,000. And the number of deaths for that time period was six, which was an increase in 4 from the week before – another risk indicator of note. This metric is triggered when the weekly number of deaths increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
*UPDATE* Based on data released after the publication of this article on the afternoon of September 18, DuPage County is no longer in the warning zone, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The number of new cases per 100,000 residents in the county dropped from 89 to 75, though that is still above the state’s threshold. The number of deaths in DuPage did not increase from the previous dataset, which brings that metric back into the target range. Because DuPage County is no longer in the warning zone for multiple metrics, the county is no longer considered at risk.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
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