As COVID-19 cases continue to surge in Illinois at an unprecedented rate, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced on Sunday that new restrictions will be placed in all eleven regions of Illinois.
Pritzker will be imposing a ban on indoor service at bars and restaurants, among other restrictions, this week for Region 2 — which covers 20 North-Central counties, including Rock Island, Kendall and Knox counties — after the area saw an average positivity rate above the 8% positivity threshold for three consecutive days. Starting Wednesday, all 11 of the state’s regions will be operating under the governor’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Pritzker, who hinted last week the peak of this outbreak is still nowhere in sight, said the mitigation measures are being put in place to help limit the spread of the virus. “As cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising across our state, across the Midwest and across the nation, we have to act responsibly and collectively to protect the people we love,” Pritzker said in a statement.
The news comes as state health officials announced 6,980 new cases and an additional 35 coronavirus-related deaths, making Sunday the fifth consecutive day Illinois’ daily caseload has topped 6,000 — a number that far exceeds anything seen in the state’s previous COVID-19 peak in May.
More than 119,600 people tested positive for the virus in Illinois over the last 30 days, and the state has broken the daily caseload record five out of the last 12 days, including Saturday when state health officials announced 7,899 new cases. Even more concerning, Illinois hospitals are treating the most coronavirus patients they’ve seen since the end of May.
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