(WTTW News)
Illinois hit a milestone Wednesday in its battle against the coronavirus, surpassing 6 million tests. But Gov. J.B. Pritzker said regional positivity rates are no longer showing the “promising declines” he touted a week earlier.
“Last week, I told you we had been seeing promising declines in nearly every region of the state with the exception of Region 1, which has seen consistent increases in positivity for weeks,” Pritzker said Wednesday. “That progress has cooled off across Illinois. We are seeing positivity averages around the state level off.”
Of the state’s 11 regions, three that had decreasing positivity rates last week are now stable, and two regions – Region 9, which includes Lake and McHenry counties, and Region 5 in southern Illinois – have flipped from decreasing positivity rates last week to increasing rates this week, according to Pritzker.
Only Region 3, which includes Springfield and Quincy, has gone from an increasing positivity rate last week to a “relatively stable rate” in the past week, Pritzker said.
The statewide positivity rate is 3.5%, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, which on Wednesday reported 2,630 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 42 virus-related deaths since Tuesday. In Chicago, the seven-day rolling average positivity rate is 4.5% while suburban Cook County’s is 4.8%, according to IDPH data.
Two regions – Region 1, which includes Rockford and Galena, and Region 4, also known as Metro East – continue to have tightened restrictions, but the Metro East region could see those restrictions removed as soon as Friday.
“After falling from a peak seven-day average positivity rate of over 10%, Metro East has leveled off and recently dropped to a new low of 6.3%. That’s enormous progress,” Pritzker said. “And if the region sustains that average below the 6.5% (positivity rate) threshold, it could see a return to looser mitigations.”
Statewide, there have been 307,641 cases and 8,878 virus-related deaths since Illinois reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 in late January, according to IDPH data.
With the start of the flu season upon us, IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike urged residents to get their flu shots and continue to follow guidelines designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus: washing hands, wearing a mask and social distancing.
“Mask up. Lather up. Sleeve up and back up,” Ezike said.
Contact Kristen Thometz: @kristenthometz | (773) 509-5452 | [email protected]
