Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced new statistics and guidance on Thursday aimed at the state’s transition to a full reopening, revealing what he called a “bridging phase” that would allow for higher capacity limits before phase 5 enters.
The new phase allows for higher capacity limits in places such as museums, zoos and spectator events, as well as increased business operations, the state announced, but masks will remain mandatory.
The updated guidelines bridge the gap between Phase 4, which the state is currently in, and Phase 5, which would mark a full reopening and require a widely available vaccine or highly effective treatment.
According to the governor, the so-called bridging phase will “serve as a transition period with higher capacity limits and more business operations, without embracing a reckless reopening prematurely before the majority of Illinois residents are vaccinated.”
“We want and need to move forward, but we need to be measured and careful in our approach,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “Rather than flipping a switch and saying we are now in phase 5, we see it more as a dial – by rolling back some of the capacity constraints that helped reduce the transfer and ultimately the number of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths. We don’t want to act too quickly and risk a significant turnaround in our progress. “
Unlike previous fixes and stages, all of Illinois will go through the Bridging Stage and Stage 5 together once they meet the required metrics.
In order for Illinois to advance to the bridging phase, the entire state must achieve a first dose vaccination rate of 70% for residents 65 and older, in addition to maintaining current required statistics of at least 20% availability of ICU beds and remain stable on hospital admissions for COVID-19 or COVID-like illnesses, death rates, and case rates over a 28-day monitoring period.
To move to phase 5, the state must achieve a 50% vaccination rate for residents 16 and older and meet the same statistics and rates required to enter the transition phase, for an additional 28 days, state officials said. .
“COVID-19 has not disappeared, but the light we can see at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter as more people are vaccinated,” Pritzker said in a statement. “It is time to move cautiously to normalcy, and it is imperative that we do this in a way that preserves all the progress we have made so far.”
The state could be forced to revert to an earlier stage if, over the course of 10 days, the state experiences an upward trend in hospital admissions with COVID-19 and COVID-like illness, a decrease in the availability of IC beds, a increase in the death rate and an increasing number of cases, the state said.
In addition to announcing the transition phase, the government has also made changes to the current phase 4 guidelines.
Under a new rule, anyone with proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test within one to three days of an event or outing will not count towards the capacity limits.
In addition, in phase 4 activities with a lower risk, which were not allowed or with a lower capacity, were expanded.
“As regulations gradually roll back in the coming weeks, Illinois residents must continue to comply with the public health guidelines that protected us during the pandemic, including wearing face covers and keeping a social distance,” the state said in a press release .
Still, Chicago said it is “reviewing the released guidelines [Thursday] and will publish updated city guidelines early next week. “
Here’s a full rundown of the phase changes:
Phase 4
To dine
Seating areas: customers ≥ 1.8 meters apart; parties ≤ 10
Pitches: 25% capacity
Health and fitness
50% capacity
Group fitness classes of 50 or less indoors or 100 or less outdoors *
Offices
50% capacity
Personal care
50% capacity
Sales and service counter
50% capacity
Theme parks
25% capacity *
Festivals and general admission events for outdoor spectators
15 people per 1000 square feet *
Flea and farmers markets
25% capacity or 15 people per 1,000 square feet.
Film production
50% capacity
Meetings, conferences and congresses
Location with capacity <200 people: Less than 50 people or 50% capacity *
Location with capacity ≥ 200 people: Less than 250 people or 25% capacity *
Museums
25% capacity
Recreation
Inside: Less than 50 people or 50% capacity
Outside: Maximum groups of 50; multiple groups allowed
Social events
Inside: Less than 50 people or 50% capacity *
Outside: Less than 100 people or 50% capacity *
Spectator events (tickets and seats)
Indoor location with capacity <200 persons: Less than 50 persons or 50% capacity *
Outdoor location or indoor location with a capacity of ≥ 200 people: 25% capacity *
Theaters and performing arts
Indoor location with a capacity of <200 people: Less than 50 or 50% capacity
Outdoor location or indoor location with a capacity ≥ 200 people: 25% capacity *
Zoos
25% capacity
Less than 50 or 50% for indoor exhibitions
Bridging phase
To dine
Seats: customers ≥ 1.8 meters apart; parties ≤ 10
Pitches: 30% indoor capacity; 50% outdoor capacity
Health and fitness
60% capacity
Group fitness classes of 50 or less indoors or 100 or less outdoors
Offices
60% capacity
Personal care
60% capacity
Sales and service counter
60% capacity
Theme parks
60% capacity *
Festivals and general admission events for outdoor spectators
30 people per 1000 square feet *
Flea and farmer’s markets
Indoor: 15 people per 1000 square feet.
Outside: 30 people per 1000 square feet.
Film production
60% capacity
Meetings, conferences and congresses
Less than 1,000 people or 60% capacity ^
Museums
60% capacity
Recreation
Inside: Less than 100 people or 50% capacity
Outside: Maximum 100 groups; multiple groups allowed
Social events
Inside: 250 people
Outside: 500 people
Spectator events (tickets and seats)
60% capacity
Theaters and performing arts
60% capacity
Zoos
60% capacity
In addition to the changes to the reopening framework, Pritzker also announced that starting April 12, the COVID-19 vaccine will be eligible to all residents of Illinois over the age of 16, except those in the city of Chicago.
All Illinois residents over the age of 16 are eligible for vaccination as of April 12, Pritzker said, adding that state officials will be making more information available in the coming days about certain populations eligible for that latest expansion.