Governor Pritzker announced Tuesday afternoon that Region 7 (Will and Kankakee Counties) will for the second time during the Coronavirus pandemic be facing Phase Four Tier One Restrictions. This coming Friday, October 23rd, five weeks to the day after Region 7 was taken off Tier One Restrictions the previous time, these mitigations will once again take effect. First and foremost, there will be no indoor service at restaurants and bars. In addition, gatherings must be limited to 25 people, or 25 percent capacity of the room or facility, whichever is smaller. Region 8 (DuPage and Kane Counties) will also be under these restrictions starting this coming Friday. Region 1 (northwest Illinois, including Rockford area) and Region 5 (southernmost portion of Illinois) are also under these Phase Four Tier One Restrictions.
Governor Pritzker stated that Region 7 will need to, like last time, get its overall positivity rate down to 6.5% for three consecutive days to be taken off the restrictions. Also, if after two weeks, the region’s positivity rate remains at 8.0% or above, additional restrictions could be initiated.