Three regions of Illinois are now able to suspend Tier 3 mitigations under state guidelines, Governor JB Pritzker announced on Friday.
These regions, which are now eligible for Level 2, include:
Region 1: Northern Illinois (Jo Davies, Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone, Dekalb, Carrol, Ogle, Whiteside, Lee, Crawford)
Region 2: North-Central Illinois (Rock Island, Henry, Bureau, Putnam, Kendall, Grundy, Mercer, Knox, Henderson, Warren, McDonough, Fulton, Stark, Marshall, Peoria, Tazwell, McLean, Woodford, Livingston, Lasalle)
Region 5: Southern Illinois (Marion, Jefferson, Wayne, Edwards, Wabash, Perry, Jackson, Franklin, Williamson, Saline, Hamilton, White, Gallatin, Union, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Alexander, Massac, Pulaski)
“From our remaining regions, the data shows that most are on their way to leave Level 3 in the next few days if current trends continue,” said Pritzker on Friday.
All 11 regions of Illinois have been under Level 3 mitigations since November 20, suspending in-house restaurants across the state and closing museums and casinos.
The move to Tier 2 will mean returning to group gym classes and recreational and youth sports at lower risk, and reopening cultural institutions such as museums, with a 25% capacity limit, among other things.
According to state guidelines, a region may move to Tier 2 mitigations if it sees a test positivity rate of less than 12% for three consecutive days and more than 20% of the ICUs and hospital beds are available, as well as declining rates. hospitalizations for COVID-19 in seven of the previous 10 days.