Pritzker declares 'red alert' on COVID
Metro East faces same bans as Will, Kankakee counties; all diners ordered to wear mask as much as possible
Backed by state Sen. Pat McGuire, Gov. Pritzker announces new COVID-19 mitigation measures Tuesday. (Illinois.gov)
By Ted Cox
Declaring a “red alert” as COVID-19 infections rise in Metro East and in Will and Kankakee counties, Gov. Pritzker clamped down on diners across the state Tuesday, calling for them to wear a mask as much as possible in restaurants.
A day after the state announced new mitigation efforts for Region 7, Pritzker held a coronavirus briefing at the Will County Health Department in Joliet. He cited the 8 percent positivity rate on COVID-19 tests seen over the last week in Will and Kankakee counties as what doctors have determined to be “a danger signal.”
“This is a red alert for everyone,” Pritzker said, “and it demands a new effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
On that note, Pritzker said that the Metro East area — Region 4 of the 11 regions designated statewide in the plan to Restore Illinois — would almost certainly face the same restrictions as Will and Kankakee counties when its two-week monitoring period ends Sept. 2. Metro East saw bars and restaurants remain open for indoor service, but ordered closed at 11 p.m. when its positivity rate rose above 8 percent earlier in the month. Pritzker said that was on the advice of local health officials, who wanted to make restrictions consistent with those observed in St. Louis in order to discourage anyone from crossing the Mississippi River to take advantage of more lax rules.
“That has not worked,” Pritzker said Tuesday, calling the decision “a mistake” as the positivity rate has continued to rise in Metro East to 9.4 percent.
So Metro East, like Will and Kankakee counties, will face a total ban on indoor service at bars and restaurants unless it abruptly lowers the positivity rate this week — not expected, as Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike warned the region is “on course” to hit a 10 percent positivity rate. While Illinois as a whole is faring better than neighboring states in the pandemic, Pritzker pointed out, “Our numbers are now getting worse, not better. We must reverse that trend.”
So Pritzker also ordered diners and bar patrons statewide to wear masks as much as possible — when ordering or talking with wait staff — as of Wednesday, when the new mitigation measures also take effect in Will and Kankakee counties.
“To open businesses and keep them open, we must slow the spread of COVID-19 across the state,” he said.
Ezike announced 1,680 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide on Tuesday, to bring the overall total to 223,470, while 29 new deaths attributed to the coronavirus took the state toll to 7,917.
“Our past behavior is how we got to our present situation,” said Will County Executive Denise Winfrey. “We believe that Will County is strong enough to do the right thing.”
State Sen. Pat McGuire of Joliet endorsed the “modest steps” Pritzker and Ezike have called for, including the three W’s — wear a mask, wash hands, watch social distancing — while also asking constituents to “listen to the guidance of our state and local health authorities.”
“None of these rules are intended to punish or to irritate anyone,” Pritzker said. “This is not a political choice on my part,” he added. “This is truly a reliance on the doctors” and their reading of the pandemic data.
Ezike emphasized, “To the public who say face coverings don’t work, you are simply wrong.”