Lake Forest Shifts To Tier 2 Coronavirus Mitigation Measures
LAKE FOREST-LAKE BLUFF, IL — State public health officials have lifted some limitations on activities in Lake Forest with this week's downgrade of Tier 3 COVID-19 restrictions, the strictest measures to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus imposed since the stay-at-home order issued by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last March as the number of cases surged.
Lake Forest and Lake Bluff have entered Tier 2 along with the rest of Lake County, which means cultural institutions, like museums, are permitted to open. Under Tier 2 coronavirus mitigation measures, gatherings of up to 10 people or less are allowed, and certain sports and group recreational activities can reopen. Sporting and fitness facilities can open with up to 25 people or 25 percent of capacity, according to state officials.
Nearly a dozen fitness businesses in the two towns have reopened with the reduced restrictions, according to the local chamber of commerce. They include Anytime Fitness, The Dailey Method, The Exercise Coach, Fit for Life Rehab and Fitness Clinic, Fitness Together Lake Forest, Lake Bluff Park District Fitness Center, Lake Bluff Park District Fitness Center, Lake Forest Fitness Center, Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Health and Fitness Center, Orangetheory Fitness, Racquet Club of Lake Bluff.
“The residents of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff love the breadth of local fitness options in our area,” Joanna Rolek, executive director of the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. “But unfortunately, that is one category of business that has been hit especially hard during the Coronavirus crisis,” she added. “We’re thrilled that these businesses can start to get back up and running after these challenging months.”
On Monday, two days after announcing changes to Tier 1 restrictions that will allow indoor dining, the Pritzker administration announced modifications to the metrics it would use to determine regional reopening. State officials dropped the requirement that hospitals maintain at least 20 percent of their hospital beds outside of intensive care units staffed and empty.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said the state has established a new surge staffing program to make sure there would be adequate hospital staff. She said hospital officials assured the Pritzker administration the 20 percent ICU availability metric would be sufficient for measuring capacity.
“We are pleased to see most of our regions move out of Tier 3 mitigations with this change, and it is critical that we maintain this progress," Ezike said in a statement. "With new variants of COVID-19 spreading, it is more important than ever to follow the public health guidance that keeps people safe – wear your mask and watch your distance.”
According to the latest hospitalization utilization numbers available from state public health officials, about 15 percent of patients in the state's hospitals had COVID-19. And as of Monday, about 10 percent of the state's hospital beds were occupied with patients with COVID-19.
Of the state's 3,320 staffed ICU beds, about 20 percent were occupied by patients with COVID-19. The state reopening metrics still include the three-day rolling average percentage of beds available in a region's ICU.
The metrics do not include any measurement of the number of new cases, known as the incidence rate.
State public health officials have included such a metric in the non-binding recommendations offered to volunteer local school board officials, who are tasked with making school reopening decisions. Most have deferred to the suggestions of their district's superintendents.
Lake County had a 7.4 percent seven-day rolling average coronavirus test positivity as of Monday, the most recent day where data is available. Region 9 in the governor's reopening plan, which also includes McHenry County, an average test positivity rate of 8.1 percent.
ZIP code level incidence data is available from the Lake County Health Department. State and local public health officials have declined to release any information on the number of residents of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff who have died with the virus.
The average for the two-county region must remain below 8 percent for three days before it could become eligible for a move from Tier 2 to Tier 1, which would allow limited indoor dining to reopen, as well as gatherings of up to 25 people.
This article originally appeared on the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch
