CHICAGO — Gov. J.B. Pritzker took his admonition that parts of Illinois could be headed for a reopening reversal downstate on Thursday, as the state continues to see elevated levels of COVID-19 cases and other key metrics.
State officials on Thursday reported 1,772 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus over the prior 24 hours. That’s the first time the count has climbed above 1,700 since Memorial Day.
“Every region has increasing positivity rates and increasing cases. This is hugely problematic,” Pritzker said Thursday at a news conference in downstate Ottawa. “It means that we’re going to have to take a hard look at what do we need to do, what mitigations do we need now in order to get us back in line with the direction that we were going, which was reducing those positivity rates.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health also said Thursday 18 more people with COVID-19 died during a 24-hour period, bringing the statewide death toll to 7,478. The department reports that there have been 176,896 known cases of COVID-19 in Illinois since the pandemic began.
The state entered the fourth phase of Pritzker’s reopening plan June 26, when gatherings of up to 50 and indoor dining with restrictions were allowed for the first time since March. Museums, performing arts centers and movie theaters were also allowed to reopen. Pritzker on Wednesday announced a range of restrictions for youth sports and adult recreational sports, in the wake of outbreaks being tied to sports teams.
Pritzker’s administration earlier this month produced a new plan for monitoring COVID-19 in the state that included the potential for reimposing stricter rules in regions where metrics portend a resurgence in the virus. Under those rules, if a region has three consecutive days with an 8% positivity rate, the state may reimpose more restrictive rules on gatherings and businesses.
Changes can also be triggered by a sustained increase in the region’s seven-day rolling average positivity rate combined with either a sustained seven-day increase in hospital admissions for coronaviruslike illness or a reduction in the region’s hospital capacity that threatens the area’s ability to handle a potential surge in cases.
If a region reaches one of those benchmarks, state officials will consider a menu of options for reimposing stricter rules on businesses such as restaurants, bars and salons; hospitals; and gatherings and meetings, which will be driven by “the types of activities that are most likely causing or could cause greater community spread of the virus,” Pritzker said.
In two downstate stops on Thursday, Pritzker and Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike reemphasized wearing masks and social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Ezike said that as bars and restaurants, workplaces and other activities have been able to reopen or resume, “with that, we are slowly starting to see more cases across Illinois,” along with an uptick in the number of hospital admissions.
“Of course these are indicators that we are making a bit of a U-turn,” Ezike said. “And so this may mean that businesses temporarily will have to further reduce capacity limits. It may mean that our favorite restaurant now has to go back to takeout dining. But we do have a say-so in having to make that full U-turn.”
As of Wednesday night, 1,452 people in Illinois were hospitalized with the coronavirus, and 353 of those patients were in the ICU, while 149 were on ventilators.
The statewide seven-day rolling positivity rate stood at 3.8% as of Wednesday, up from 2.7% on June 29.
“I’m imploring people to follow the guidelines, to follow the mitigations that we’ve put forward, do everything they can, and that we won’t have to move any region backward,” Pritzker said. “But I would say we’re at a danger point, everybody.”
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