'It's time to mask up, Illinois'
Pritzker, health officials clamp down on Metro East, warn of Labor Day spread of COVID
Gov. Pritzker is ordering Illinoisans to “mask up” ahead of the Labor Day weekend. (Illinois.gov)
By Ted Cox
Clamping down on rising COVID-19 infections in the Metro East region and warning of the Labor Day weekend ahead, Gov. Pritzker declared Wednesday, “It’s time to mask up, Illinois.”
Effective Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health imposed what Pritzker called “stricter mitigations” against Metro East, Region 4 in the Restore Illinois plan to reopen the economy in the pandemic. Metro East was the first region to go backward on COVID-19 restrictions two weeks ago, when the testing positivity rate rose above 8 percent, although at the time it had measures imposed that brought the area in line with those in St. Louis across the Mississippi River.
“Unfortunately, that region continues to see positivity rates of over 8 percent,” Pritzker said at Wednesday’s coronavirus briefing at the Thompson Center in Chicago. After bemoaning how the region rose above 10 percent last week, when he declared a “red alert” in the pandemic, Pritzker said Wednesday that the current rate stood at 9.6 percent and “stricter mitigations” were called for. So he imposed the same restrictions that Region 7, Will and Kankakee counties, faced starting last week: a halt to indoor bar and restaurant service, closing restaurants and bars at 11 p.m., and limiting gatherings to 25 people or 25 percent of capacity, whichever is lower.
“I want to put people back to work,” Pritzker said. “But the greatest hindrance to restoring our nation’s economic vitality is the virus. Until we get it under control … we are going to be fighting for our economic recovery with one hand tied behind our back. We must slow the rate of infection all across our state.”
According to the governor, over the last two weeks nine of the 11 regions designated across the state in the plan to Restore Illinois saw testing positivity rates rise, with four of them seeing increases of more than a percentage point. Only two regions — western Illinois including Springfield and Quincy and eastern Illinois including Champaign-Urbana and Charleston — saw positivity rates decline.
The Department of Public Health reported 2,128 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, bringing the state total to 238,643, while 27 new deaths took the Illinois toll to 8,091. The statewide positivity rate rose to 4.5 percent, although the department said part of that was due to reduced test processing caused by a “minor tech issue” that is “being worked on with urgency.”
Dr. Susan Bleasdale, an infectious-disease expert with University of Illinois Health, said, “We may see something of a seesaw back and forth,” as regions see infections rise and impose renewed restrictions until the spread of the coronavirus slows in the area. She was joined by other health officials and the governor in warning about the spread of COVID-19 over the Labor Day weekend, especially with family gatherings and other large groups.
“I am very concerned, as I was the Fourth of July weekend,” Pritzker said. He asked Illinoisans to “pay special attention, though, over this weekend” in observing the three W’s: wear a mask, wash hands, watch social distancing.