SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Stricter COVID-19 mitigation will take effect this Friday across all of Illinois.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday all 11 regions of the state will have to adhere to tier three guidelines.
In tier three, all bars and restaurants close at 11 at night, and may not reopen any earlier than 6 the following morning.
No indoor service is allowed with tier three, reservations are required for patrons who wish to dine outside, indoor gaming must be suspended, and tables may not exceed parties of six.
As indoor gaming is suspended at bars and restaurants, casinos and gaming centers must also close.
Also forced to close during the mitigation period will be theaters, performing arts centers, and museums.
Retail stores may not exceed 25% capacity. Grocery stores and pharmacies may operate at 50% capacity.
All youth and adult recreational leagues must pause indoor activities. Outdoor activities are still allowed.
Any funerals conducted during the mitigation period may not have more than 10 attendees, not including workers.
Meeting rooms, banquet centers, private party rooms, private clubs and country clubs may not host gatherings.
Health and fitness centers may stay open, but at no more than 25% capacity. Indoor fitness classes are not allowed.
A recent wave of cases prompted the measure, said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.
“Overnight, 5,887 people were in the hospital with COVID-19. That is 1,000 more than we had at our peak in the spring,” she said.
“In hospitals throughout the state, one out of every four patients has COVID, and that number is only going to grow.
“If those COVID numbers grow, and flu hospitalizations grow, where will someone go with chest pain, if they acutely notice facial droop, [or] after a car accident? We have to be able to take care of all people of Illinois, and have the hospital capacity to do so.”
Pritzker said the wave “could not be addressed properly with the tier one or tier two resurgence mitigation plan designed to suppress infections regionally that were growing in a linear fashion.”
Some specific criteria must be met for any single region to be moved back into tier two status.
A region must experience less than 12% seven-day average test positivity rate for three consecutive days and greater than 20% available hospital bed availability, meaning both regular care and ICU, for three consecutive days.
The region must also have a declining seven-day average for COVID hospitalizations for seven out of 10 days.
