“Tier 3 boils down to this: if you don’t need to do it, don’t.” – Gov. Pritzker
FROM DPH.ILLINOIS.COM
With a new wave of COVID-19 surging across the state of Illinois, the Midwest and the nation, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced additional COVID-19 resurgence mitigations will take effect in every region across the state in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. Tier 3 mitigations build on the Resurgence Mitigation Plan released in July to suppress the spread of the virus and prevent hospitals from becoming overrun. This latest round of mitigations aims to limit gatherings and encourages residents to stay home as much as possible and follow proper safety measures when out in public. The mitigations carefully balance the paramount goal of saving lives while preserving the option for in-person learning for children and protecting as much of the economy as possible from the continued impacts of the virus.
The Tier 3 resurgence mitigations will take effect statewide at 12:01 am on Friday, November 20,2020.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL DPH PRESS RELEASE
Grocery stores and child care will still be open with specific guidelines. Schools are still doing their best with guidelines that were released in August. Illinois residents are urged to stay home as much as possible and celebrate upcoming holidays in person with only the members of their household. Residents over the age of two years old are required to wear a face covering when out in public and social distancing is not easily achievable.
FROM DPH.ILLINOIS.COM
IDPH will continue to track the positivity rates and hospital capacity metrics in regions over a 14-day monitoring periods to determine if mitigations can be relaxed, if additional mitigations are required, or if current mitigation should remain in place. In order for a region to move back to Tier 2 mitigations, a region must experience less than 7-day 12 percent test positivity average for three consecutive days AND greater than 20 percent available intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital bed availability for three consecutive days AND declining 7-day COVID hospitalizations average in 7 out of the last 10 days. Follow the latest regional metrics at: https://dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics
Susan Saunders – 11/18/20
