Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration announced earlier this week that it would begin to allow healthcare regions in the state to rollback Tier 3, and at least four regions will likely see those restrictions rolled back to varying degrees.
To move back to Tier 2 mitigations, which would include the re-opening of museums and casinos, as well as increases in occupancy limits in some instances, health care regions must meet the following criteria:
-A seven-day positivity rate of 12% or lower for three consecutive days.
-Hospital bed and ICU bed availability of greater than 20% for three consecutive days.
-Decreases in hospitalizations on at least seven of the preceding 10 days.
As of Thursday, four healthcare regions in the state meet those criteria:
Region 1 (Northwest Illinois):
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This region, which includes Winnebago and DeKalb counties, will be eligible to move back to Tier 2 restrictions so long as it sees a decrease in hospitalizations on Friday. It is already meeting metrics in terms of ICU and hospital bed availability, and in positivity rates.
If the region does not see a decrease in hospitalizations Friday, then it could still achieve a rollback in mitigations with declines on either Saturday or Sunday.
Counties Impacted: Jo Davies, Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone, DeKalb, Carrol, Ogle, Whiteside, Lee, Crawford
Region 2 (West-Central Illinois):
This region, which includes LaSalle, Grundy, and Kendall counties in the NBC 5 viewing area, as well as the cities of Peoria and Bloomington, will likely move forward from Tier 3 mitigations Friday, but healthcare officials are keeping an eye on ICU bed availability in the region, which has dropped to 22.6% as of Thursday. As recently as Monday, that number was at 26%.
Counties Impacted: Rock Island, Henry, Bureau, Putnam, Kendall, Grundy, Mercer, Knox, Henderson, Warren, McDonough, Fulton, Stark, Marshall, Peoria, Tazwell, McLean, Woodford, Livingston, LaSalle
Region 3 (West Illinois):
This region, which includes the capital of Springfield, is the closest region in Illinois to moving back to Phase 4 mitigations, which would allow indoor dining and bar service to resume. The positivity rate in the region is the lowest in the state, currently sitting at 6.9%.
The issue the region could soon face is falling below the 20% thresholds in hospital bed availability, as that number has dropped from 23.9% to 20.2% in the last three days.
Counties Impacted: Hancock, Adams, Pike, Calhoun, Jersey, Greene, Scott, Brown, Schuyler, Cass, Morgan, Macoupin, Montgomery, Christian, Sangamon, Logan, Menard, Mason
Region 5 (South Illinois):
This region, which includes Mount Vernon and Carbondale, has seen a steady decline in hospitalizations over the last week, but its ICU bed availability has hovered just over 20% in the last three days, meaning it’s poised to move forward from Tier 3 mitigations.
Included Counties: Marion, Jefferson, Wayne, Edwards, Wabash, Perry, Jackson, Franklin, Williamson, Saline, Hamilton, Gallatin, Union, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Alexander, Massac, Pulaski
According to current metrics, three different regions are at least close to rolling back restrictions:
Region 6 (East-Central Illinois):
This region will need two more days of decreases in hospitalizations, which would be a continuation of a recent trend that has seen decreases on five of the last seven days.
Counties Impacted: Iroquois, Ford, Dewitt, Piatt, Champaign, Vermillion, Macon, Moultrie, Douglas, Edgar, Shelby, Coles, Cumberland, Clark, Fayette, Effingham, Jasper, Crawford, Clay, Richland, Lawrence
Region 7 (Will, Kankakee counties):
This region is in an interesting position, as it has seen decreases on six of the last 10 days in hospitalizations. While one more day of decreases would allow it to move forward, it has seen numbers remain steady, or increase, the last three days, meaning that it will need to register decreases on three consecutive days to actually move forward.
The region is hitting metric thresholds in positivity rates and bed availability.
Region 8 (Kane, DuPage counties):
This region was poised to move forward from Tier 3 mitigations until Thursday, when its hospital bed availability dropped from 23.2% to 19.3%. That means the region will need to get back above 20% and stay there for three straight days in order to move forward.
