All Illinois Regions are now out of Tier 3 mitigations following an announcement from the state's health department Friday, and more restrictions could soon be eased heading into the weekend.
State health officials said Region 4, the only Illinois region that remained under Tier 3 mitigations, met the metrics to move into Tier 2 mitigations, effective Friday.
“We are pleased to hear our region as whole is trending in the right direction,” St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern said in a statement. “We will continue to advocate to our residents to mask up, wash their hands, and stay safe so we can continue to increase capacity at our hospitals and reduce our positivity rates."
In addition to Region 4, health officials said Regions 10 and 11, which hold suburban Cook County and Chicago, "are on track" to enter Tier 1 as early as Saturday, if their metrics hold.
“With all regions of Illinois now out of Tier 3, we can now see that the entire state is headed down the right path,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a statement. “During the summer, we were on this same path. We know that we must continue to take precautions and be smart about how we relax some of the mitigation measures, which are in place to protect our health and safety.”
For a full breakdown of what's allowed in each tier click here.
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady had said Tuesday that Tier 1 could be in the near future, with the city potentially meeting the required metrics by the weekend.
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"So here in Chicago, our number of COVID cases in the hospital is going down well, our ICU capacity adequate and our positivity had come down. And so really, as of now, still in restaurants and bars, there is no indoor service - that's allowed in the next tier, which we may possibly be able to move toward as early as, you know, possibly over the weekend, early next week, depending where this number goes," Arwady said.
Much of Illinois began to loosen certain restrictions earlier this week after state health officials changed the guidelines to move between tiers and phases.
The state's health department announced Monday that due to a change in staffing contracts, which increases hospital staffing across the state, the hospital bed availability metric used in determining a region's tier or phase will now only include ICU beds, not all hospital beds available in the region.
The change sent much of the Chicago into Tier 2 and as low as Tier 1.
On Thursday, Region 7, home to Will and Kankakee counties, was allowed to enter Tier 1. The region had been the only one in the Chicago area still under Tier 3 mitigations following the change in metrics.
The health department plans to "closely monitor test positivity, ICU bed availability, and the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19" and if numbers begin trending in the wrong direction, a region could see increased mitigations return.
Here's a look at the metrics required for each phase:
Moving from Tier 3 to Tier 2
o Test positivity rate = 8% and below 12% for three consecutive days (7-day average); AND
o Staffed ICU bed availability = 20% for three consecutive days (7-day average); AND
o Sustained decline in COVID patients in hospital (7-day average for 7 of 10 days)
Moving from Tier 2 to Tier 1
o Test positivity rate between 6.5% and 8% for three consecutive days (7-day average); AND
o Staffed ICU bed availability = 20% for three consecutive days (7-day average); AND
o No sustained increase in COVID patients in hospital (7-day average for 7 of 10 days)
Moving from Tier 1 to Phase 4
o Test positivity rate = 6.5% for three consecutive days (7-day average); AND
o Staffed ICU bed availability = 20% for three consecutive days (7-day average); AND
o No sustained increase in COVID patients in hospital (7-day average for 7 of 10 days)
