Champaign, Douglas, Ford, Piatt, Vermilion and the 16 surrounding counties that make up Region 6 have met the Illinois Department of Public Health requirements to move into Tier 1 mitigations, which include re-opening indoor dining.
Restaurant owners will be required to limit indoor capacity to the lesser of 25 guests or 25 percent capacity per room; tables are limited to four people and must be spaced six feet apart; and establishments must close by 11 p.m.
Other changes include a capacity limit of the lesser of 25 guests or 25% of overall room capacity both indoors and outdoors for meetings and gatherings.
On Friday the Illinois High School Association also announced updated participation models based on Tier 1 and Tier 2 mitigations. The IHSA board will meet again on Jan. 27.
Under Tier 2, low-risk winter sports such as boys swimming, cheerleading and dance can begin practice.
Boys and girls basketball, which are deemed high-risk winter sports, can immediately hold team training with no physical contact.
Spring and summer sports for schools located in regions under Tier 2 mitigations may begin contact days on Jan. 25.
The IDPH move to change mitigation measures came after the state secured multiple healthcare staffing contracts to increase staff in hospitals. With that change, IDPH adjusted
Tier metrics to allow more regions to lift strict mitigations.
To address capacity issues reported by Illinois hospitals, IDPH, in partnership with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), has launched a surge staffing program. The program leverages the state’s larger contracting power to engage multiple staffing vendors and create access to a talent pool at greater scale than any individual hospital could achieve. Hospitals with rooms available to increase capacity but lacking the personnel to staff their beds may partner with the state to procure the staff they need. Hospitals that create orders will enter into a contract with the state to access this new staffing pool.
Hospital leaders have conveyed that due to the progress the state has made as well as the volatility in medical/surgical capacity this time of year, the state’s remaining metrics will appropriately monitor capacity and spread. While IDPH is working to allow regions greater flexibility in lifting the most stringent mitigations, public health officials will continue to carefully monitor hospital needs and test positivity in order to maintain the state’s progress.
Early studies for the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7, which was first identified in the United Kingdom, have shown the variant may spread more rapidly and easily than what we have seen previously. Experts are predicting another possible surge due to this new variant in the next several months.
“With the change, Regions 8,9, 10, and 11 will move from the most restrictive Tier 3 to Tier 2,” said IDPH officials. “In addition, Region 1 and 6 have met the metrics to move to Tier 1, and Regions 3 and 5 have met the metrics to return to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan.”
Moving forward, IDPH mitigation metrics will be as follows:
In order to move to Tier 2 mitigations, a region must meet the following metrics:
- A test positivity rate ≤8% and ˂12% for three consecutive days, as measured by the 7-day rolling average; AND
- ≥20% available staffed ICU hospital beds for three consecutive days, on a 7-day rolling average; AND
- A sustained decrease in the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 for seven out of 10 days, on a 7-day average.
In order to move to Tier 1 mitigations, a region must meet the following metrics:
- A test positivity rate between 6.5 and 8% for three consecutive days, as measured by the 7-day rolling average; AND
- ≥20% available staffed ICU hospital beds for three consecutive days, on a 7-day rolling average; AND
- No sustained increase in the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 for seven out of 10 days, on a 7-day average.
In order to move to Phase 4, a region must meet the following metrics:
- A test positivity rate less ≤6.5% for three consecutive days, as measured by the 7-day rolling average; AND
- ≥20% available staffed ICU hospital beds for three consecutive days, on a 7-day rolling average; AND
- No sustained increase in the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 for seven out of 10 days, on a 7-day average.
