Press "Enter" to skip to content

Pritzker: All four Illinois regions officially can advance to Phase 3 Friday

On Thursday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,527 new cases of the coronavirus and 104 additional deaths. That brings statewide totals to 115,833 confirmed cases and 5,186 deaths.

All four of the state’s health regions will move into Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan Friday, with loosened restrictions on businesses, restaurants, park districts, and allowing for gatherings of groups of 10 or fewer people.

“Let’s not move backward but, instead, let’s move forward together,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.

Once Illinois moves into Phase 3, the soonest that any of the state’s four health regions can move into Phase 4 will be after a period of 28 days per Restore Illinois guidelines, Pritzker said. That would be Friday, June 26.

Of the state’s total COVID-19-related deaths, 44% have occurred among residents of long-term care facilities, IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said.

“Our dedication to this population has never wavered,” Ezike said.

Ezike stressed the importance of reporting new cases in long-term care facilities to the IDPH as soon as they are identified. Facility leaders are expected to notify residents, staff and families within 24 hours of diagnosis of a new case, she said.

As of Wednesday night, there were 3,649 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Illinois. Of those people, 1,009 were in intensive care units, and 576 were on ventilator support, Ezike said.

Illinois conducted 25,993 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Thursday afternoon for a total of 829,966 tests conducted.

Newly reported deaths

Coles County: 1 male 80s

Cook County: 2 males 40s, 2 females 50s, 3 females 60s, 7 males 60s, 1 unknown 60s, 8 females 70s, 10 males 70s, 7 females 80s, 7 males 80s, 9 females 90s, 6 males 90s, 2 unknown 90s

DeKalb County: 1 female 70s

DuPage County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s

Kane County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 100+

Kankakee County: 1 male 90s

Lake County: 2 females 60s, 2 males 60s, 1 male 70s, 4 females 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s

Macoupin County: 1 male 80s

McHenry County: 1 female 80s

Sangamon County: 1 female 80s

St. Clair County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s

Tazewell County: 1 male 90s

Union County: 2 males 70s

Whiteside County: 2 females 90s

Will County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s

Winnebago County: 1 female 90s

Regional update

As of Thursday afternoon, the Northeast region (Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, McHenry, Lake and Will counties) reported a positivity rate average of 14.2%. The region reported an average of 27.9% of medical/surgical beds available, 31.4% of ICU beds available and 67% of ventilators available.

The North Central region (Bureau, DeKalb, La Salle, Lee, Ogle, Whiteside, Carroll, Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson, Putnam and Jo Daviess counties) reported a positivity rate rolling average of 6.9% on Thursday. On average, the region has enough medical/surgical beds to accommodate a 38.7% surge in COVID-19 cases. The region reported that 42.2% of ICU beds are available and 59.5% of ventilators are available.

The Central region reported an average positivity rate of 2.6% on Thursday. On average, there was an availability of 47.9% of medical/surgical beds, 50.8% of ICU beds and 74.9% of ventilators.

The Southern region had an average positivity rate of 5.1%. On average, there was an availability of 46.2% of medical/surgical beds, 41.7% of ICU beds and 79.5% of ventilators.

Threshold to move into phase three

In order to move into phase three of the Restore Illinois plan tomorrow, each of the state’s health regions must ensure that testing is available for hospital patients, healthcare workers, first responders and people with underlying health conditions.

Testing must also be made available to the residents and staff of congregate living facilities, according to the plan. A system for COVID-19 contact tracing and monitoring must be in place and able to respond 24 hours after diagnosis.

In addition to these requirements, each region must report an average positivity rate of 20% or lower, increasing no more than 10 percentage points over a 14-day period.

Regions must also report no overall increase in hospital admissions for COVID-19 for a period of 28 days, meaning hospitalizations must decrease or remain stable.

Finally, each region must prove available surge capacity of at least 14% of ICU beds, medical/surgical beds and ventilators.

Source: The Daily Chronicle

Be First to Comment

    Leave a Reply