Over the weekend and into today, Southern Illinois has triggered our failsafe metric of a sustained average positivity rate above 8%. So starting Thursday, Region 5 will move to increased mitigations, including the temporary closure of indoor dining and indoor bar service.
While we take action to save lives, we're working to save livelihoods as well. @IllinoisDCEO has distributed $24.6 million to Region 5 businesses and communities, and they'll receive priority consideration in the currently open round of BIG Grants, worth a total of $220 million.
As for the rest of our regions: every single one has seen an increasing positivity rate over the last week. Even more concerning: the lowest regional positivity rate in our state is now 6.2%.
Both Regions 7 and 8 have surpassed a rolling average of 8% and could join Region 5 in meeting the metrics for heightened mitigations as soon as tomorrow.
All of this takes place in a landscape where the majority of our border states have been called out as national hot spots. Indiana & Missouri have hospitals reaching capacity with ICU shortages, and Wisconsin has opened a field hospital, with more potentially in the works.
We can’t “wall off” Illinois from that surge, but we can take extra precautions and do better than others at following the mitigations that slow the spread. We have to go all in, Illinois.
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To date, Illinois has had relative success in keeping this virus at bay, and we’re still doing better than many of our neighbors, but the latest data indicates a concerning direction.
All 11 regions have seen an increase in positivity compared to where we were at last week’s update.
Statewide, our positivity rate has grown by more than one full percentage point in the last week alone, and in most regions, COVID-like hospital admissions have also increased.
I want to reiterate the call that @IDPH and I have repeatedly made to local health departments and local officials: pay close attention to your community and have the courage to take action when the local data indicate a problem.
Family gatherings, celebratory vacations and travel have all taken on a new meaning — and a new sense of concern — in a way we never expected a year ago.
But just as was true for Easter and Eid and the Fourth of July, this virus doesn’t make exceptions for traditions.
Yesterday, the @CDCgov director reiterated a concern that epidemiologists have been expressing for a few weeks now: Small family gatherings are one of the most prevalent ways the virus is being transmitted. cnn.com/2020/10/14/hea…
When confronted with decisions about the upcoming holiday season, many people who have erred on the side of caution up to now might face new temptation to let their guard down.
But let me be blunt: the virus isn’t taking a holiday.
I want to wish everyone a Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! While we're celebrating virtually this year, this an opportunity for our Latinx residents to celebrate traditions and for all of us to understand the work that lies ahead to build a state that truly serves all its people.
The same obstacle that forces us to join together virtually – COVID-19 – has also underscored how far we have to go in that work, as Latino communities, as well as Black and Indigenous communities, have disproportionately shouldered the economic & health burdens of this pandemic.
The gravity of our reality is not lost on me – in fact, an attention to marginalized groups continues to anchor my administration’s response to this pandemic, from testing & treatment accessibility to housing support to small business grants. We cannot fix what we refuse to see.
Illinois now has the lowest infection rates among all our neighboring states and one of the lowest positivity rates in the country — but this virus hasn't gone away.
I'm testifying before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security on our national response to the worsening coronavirus pandemic. Tune in now:
When it became clear that #COVID19 was not a phenomenon limited to Asia or Europe, we fully expected the federal government – home of the @CDCgov and @HHSGov – would arm the states with information, equipment, testing capability and personnel.
After all, the federal government had the experience fighting H1N1, SARS and Ebola.
It’s because of the people of Illinois that we’re seeing a trajectory of relative success where other parts of the country are not.
But I want to be clear: the virus hasn’t gone away, and I’m not afraid to protect the people of Illinois by moving a region back to an earlier phase if we see a surge.
Ours will not be one of the states that takes no action in response to a return to a peak.
We’ve seen what’s happened in other states that have allowed politics or short-term thinking to drive decision-making. Many states are now seeing surges in cases and hospitalizations, and they’re being forced to move backward and stay at home – that’s not the story in Illinois.