Gov. Pritzker's announcement, Tuesday afternoon, of new restrictions for the Metro East comes after weeks of COVID-19 numbers trending in the wrong direction for the area.
On Monday, cases in the Metro East reached 9,625 with 2,622 of those cases being diagnosed in the last 16 days.
While Illinois, as a state, has really ramped up testing, the percentage of positive tests has consistently fallen for the state since late April. Right now, the percentage of positive tests in Illinois is around 6%. That number has fallen consistently since it peaked at 21.36% on April 22.
The weekly positivity rate for the state has been increasing slightly over the past few weeks but has remained under 5%.
However, that is not the case for Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington Counties, where the percent of positive tests has been rising since late June. Right now, the seven-day average positivity is 8.9%, the highest since the state launched its regional reopening approach in July.
Gov. Pritzker previously announced a positivity rate higher than 8% would likely lead to more restrictions. On Sunday, he announced new rules that would take effect Tuesday.
The mitigation measures taking effect Tuesday include the following:
- Meetings, social events, and other gatherings are now limited to the lesser of 25 individuals or 25% of overall room capacity
- All bars, restaurants, gaming facilities, and casinos will close at 11 p.m., matching the newly imposed closing times for St. Louis
- All reception halls closed
- Party buses not allowed to operate
- Reservations required for each party at restaurants and bars, and no congregating indoors or outdoors
- Indoor tables reduced to six people or less
- No dancing indoors
- Removal of bar stools at bars to help prevent congregating
- Tables should continue to be six feet apart
