Elgin Moves Back To Tier 2 Coronavirus Restrictions
ELGIN, IL — Public health officials lifted some coronavirus restrictions in Kane and Cook counties on Monday, with new cases on the decline in the area.
Region 8 (Kane and DuPage counties) and Region 10 (suburban Cook County) moved from Tier 3 to Tier 2 on Monday, meaning gaming centers, casinos and cultural institutions can reopen, while indoor fitness classes, meetings and other gatherings can restart with a 10-person limit.
However, indoor dining at bars and restaurants is still banned under Tier 2 mitigations.
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Regions 8 and 10 moved to Tier 2 on Monday along with Regions 9 (Lake and McHenry counties) and 11 (Chicago).
Those regions loosened restrictions after meeting the state's three benchmarks to leave Tier 3: having less than 12 percent positivity rate for three straight days, more than 20 percent of ICU beds available, and declining hospitalizations for seven out of 10 days.
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As of Tuesday, the positivity rate in Region 8 had been under the 12 percent threshold for 37 straight days, while hospitalizations have been dropping steadily since reaching an all-time high Nov. 22, according to statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
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The region's positivity rate stood at 8.2 percent Saturday, the most recent day for which testing data is available.
More than 20 percent of the ICU beds in Region 8 have been available for 37 days, but a lack of medical/surgical beds prevented the region from moving to Tier 2 sooner. The IDPH is no longer using the availability of medical/surgical beds to determine coronavirus-related restrictions in any region.
Hospitalizations in Region 8 have fallen six of the past 10 days, the state’s data shows.
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Regions 1, 2 and 6 returned to Tier 1 mitigations, which allow restaurants and bars to reopen at 25 percent capacity, while Regions 3 and 5 are once again under Phase 4 restrictions. Phase 4 permits gatherings of up to 50 people and allows entertainment businesses to reopen with limits.
Tier 3 restrictions were still in place Tuesday in Regions 4 and 7.
No region can revert beyond Phase 4 restrictions until a coronavirus vaccine is widely distributed in Illinois.
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For a region to move from Tier 2 to Tier 1, it must record a positivity rate below 8 percent for three consecutive days, more than 20 percent of ICU beds must be available for three days and no sustained increase in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 patients.
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This article originally appeared on the Elgin Patch
