State Public Health Officials
Announce COVID-19 Resurgence Mitigations to Take Effect in Region 3
on November 1, 2020
Nine of 11 Regions will Operate Under
Resurgence Mitigation Framework; Administration Continues to Work
Aggressively to Support Small Businesses
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[November 18, 2020]
Governor
Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) are
announcing COVID-19 resurgence mitigations will be implemented in
Region 3—West-Central Illinois—beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday,
November 1, 2020. The region has seen a 7-day rolling average test
positivity rate of 8 percent or above for three consecutive days,
which exceeds the thresholds set for establishing mitigation
measures under the state’s Restore Illinois Resurgence Plan. Region
3 includes Hancock, Adams, Pike, Calhoun, Jersey, Greene, Scott,
Brown, Schuyler, Cass, Morgan, Macoupin, Montgomery, Christian,
Sangamon, Logan, Menard, and Mason counties.
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The administration continues to provide relief for
small businesses impacted by the ongoing pandemic. Today, the
administration announced that through both the historic Business
Interruption Grants (BIG) program and Local CURE funding, a total of
$94 million has already been deployed to Illinois businesses and
communities to help offset costs and losses due to the pandemic. In
Region 3 alone, nearly $40 million in emergency grants and
assistance has been awarded via both programs. Moving forward,
businesses in Region 3, as well as other regions currently under
additional mitigations, will receive priority consideration for the
current round of BIG. These programs are guided by an equity
framework and seek to address the hardest hit communities with
emergency relief dollars.
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“As of this morning, Region 3 – which encompasses Quincy,
Springfield and much of West-Central Illinois – has now sustained an
average positivity rate of 8 percent or higher for three days, today
hitting 8.8 percent – meaning that, starting Sunday, they will join
the majority of the state in operating under resurgence
mitigations,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Something has got to give,
and these mitigations aim to cut down on those high-risk activities
until we bring down the positivity rate in an area once again.
Because let’s be clear: well-meaning and reasonable people can have
fair disagreements about how and where to draw lines and connect
dots – but when every single metric in every single corner of the
state is trending poorly, we have to take meaningful action to keep
our people safe.”
“This is the first time a central Illinois region has needed to
implement mitigation measures because of increasing positivity,”
said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “For those residents living in
regions and communities where the virus didn’t seem to be ‘that
bad,’ things are changing with positivity rates steadily increasing.
We’ve seen regions move into and then out of mitigation, so we know
the measures work. The more people adhere to the measures, the
quicker we can move out of mitigation.”
Mitigation measures taking effect November 1 in Region 3 include:
Bars
-
No
indoor service
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All outside bar service closes at 11:00 p.m.
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All bar patrons should be seated at tables outside
-
No
ordering, seating, or congregating at bar (bar stools should be
removed)
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Tables should be 6 feet apart
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No
standing or congregating indoors or outdoors while waiting for a
table or exiting
-
No
dancing or standing indoors
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Reservations required for each party
No seating of multiple parties at one table
Restaurants
-
No
indoor dining or bar service
-
All outdoor dining closes at 11:00 p.m.
-
Outside dining tables should be 6 feet apart
-
No
standing or congregating indoors or outdoors while waiting for a
table or exiting
-
Reservations required for each party
No seating of multiple parties at one table
Meetings, Social Events, Gatherings
-
Limit to lesser of 25 guests or 25 percent of overall room
capacity
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No
party buses
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Gaming and Casinos close at 11:00 p.m., are limited to 25
percent capacity, and follow mitigations for bars and
restaurants, if applicable
These mitigations do not apply to schools or
polling places.
From the onset of the pandemic, support for small businesses has
been one of the central features of the Pritzker administration’s
COVID-19 response.
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Since March, the administration has launched a menu
of small business and community relief programs – with over $500
million in grants and programs launched by the Illinois Department
of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), including emergency
hospitality grants, a downstate small business stabilization
program, Fast Track Capital, and more. For more information on
programs available for businesses and communities, please visit
DCEO’s
website.
DCEO is also actively processing reimbursements for
local governments impacted by COVID-19 via the state’s Local CURES
program. To date, more than $8.5 million has been awarded to
governments in Region 3 to help cover the costs of the emergency
response, with eligible costs including PPE and other public health
expenses. All eligible governments in Region 3 can submit their
certification to the department and begin submitting reimbursement
requests. For more information on programs available for businesses
and communities, please visit
DCEO’s
website.
Region 3 is currently seeing an 8.8 percent positivity rate, an
increase from 4.6 percent in September, a summer peak of 6.2 percent
in August, and a low of 0.9 percent in June. While most regions are
seeing sustained increases in both positivity and hospitalization
rates, today Region 3 is experiencing triple the amount of COVID-related
hospital admissions since early September.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Oct/30/images/ads/current/burtonview_coop_sdadaily_FFARM_2020.png)
In the coming days, IDPH will continue to track the positivity rate
in Region 3 to determine if mitigations can be relaxed, if
additional mitigations are required, or if current mitigations
should remain in place. If the positivity rate averages less than or
equal to 6.5% for three consecutive days, then the regions will
return to Phase 4 mitigations under the Restore Illinois Plan. If
the positivity rate averages between 6.5% and 8%, the new
mitigations will remain in place and unchanged. If the positivity
rate averages greater than or equal to 8% after 14 days, more
stringent mitigations may be applied to further reduce spread of the
virus.
As of today, including Region 3, a total of nine of the state’s 11
regions have triggered one of the state’s failsafe state-action
metric. Regions 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 will all soon operate under Tier 1
mitigation measures given that these regions continue to report a
7-day rolling positivity rate above 8 percent. By tomorrow, Regions
10 and 11 will both operate under Tier 1 mitigations given that
these regions triggered additional mitigations based on sustained
increases in both positivity and hospitalization rates. Region 1 is
currently operating under Tier 2 mitigation measures after
continuing to see a rise in positivity, even under the Tier 1
mitigation framework, with the highest rolling positivity average in
the state.
As part of the administration’s robust response to the pandemic, the
state continues to strengthen its nation-leading testing operation,
given that testing remains a critical step to reduce further spread
of the virus. Testing is readily available throughout Illinois, with
the state now averaging more than 72,000 tests per day. For a more
targeted approach, the state provides mobile testing allowing
testing to be directed toward communities most impacted by COVID-19.
In Region 3, mobile sites will be at the Sangamon County Health
Department this weekend. To find the nearest testing center, please
visit DPH.Illinois.Gov/Testing.
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IDPH will continue to work closely with local health departments in
Region 3 to provide education to the public and offer information to
businesses and organizations on safe ways to reopen. The
significance of face coverings, social distancing, and hand washing
have been consistently emphasized by the administration throughout
the pandemic.
A full list of mitigation measures pertaining to some businesses and
industries may be found on the DCEO website at
www.dceocovid19resources.com/restore-illinois.
[Office of the Governor JB Pritzker] |