Pritzker to give update on COVID-19, expected to announce regions likely to raise to Level 3 – NBC Chicago

NOTE: Any Governor JB Pritzker press conference on Friday will be webcast live in the player above.

Governor JB Pritzker is expected to give an update on COVID-19 on Friday in which he should detail which regions can lift the level 3 coronavirus restrictions.

Pritzker is expected to deliver the update at 12 p.m. to the Thompson Center in Chicago, according to his public schedule. The press conference can be watched live in the video player above.

Pritzker is expected to announce which regions can begin to roll back restrictions that have been in place for months, suspending indoor dining statewide and shutting down museums and casinos.

All 11 regions of Illinois have been subject to Level 3 mitigation measures since November 20.

According to the governor’s office, some regions are expected to return to level 2, others possibly to level 1, and some will remain at level 3 – according to data released Thursday afternoon.

“It will be a mixed bag,” said a spokesperson for the governor’s office.

On Thursday, however, no region was following guidelines for bringing meals indoors, even though some were close, the spokesperson said.

While it’s still unclear what the governor will announce exactly for each region on Friday, according to state guidelines, a region may move to Level 2 mitigations if it sees a test positivity rate of less than 12%. for three consecutive days and more than 20% of the ICU. and hospital beds are available, as well as a decrease in COVID-19-related hospitalizations in seven of the previous 10 days.

Regions with an average positivity rate between 6.5% and 8% will likely be subject to Level 1 guidelines, although the state may still choose to monitor before further lifting the restrictions.

To move to phase 4, however, the positivity rate must be on average 6.5 percent or less over a 3-day period.

Currently, the closest region to achieving this indicator is Region 3 in western Illinois, which has an average positivity rate of 6.9%. But this region is currently on the verge of not having enough hospital beds and intensive care bed capacity, which would mean it remains at Level 3.

In addition to Region 3, Regions 1, 2, and 5 – which include Kendall, Grundy, LaSalle, and DeKalb in the Chicago area – are also currently on guidelines to start rolling back some restrictions.

Chicago Region Regions 7 and 8 are also on the verge of reaching the settings to exit Level 3. (For a full region-by-region breakdown, click here)