NOTE: Every press conference of Gov. JB Pritzker Friday will be streamed live in the player above.
Gov. JB Pritzker will release a COVID-19 update on Friday in which he is expected to detail which regions can lift Tier 3 coronavirus restrictions.
Pritzker will deliver the update at noon at the Thompson Center in Chicago, according to his public schedule. The press conference can be followed 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, suspend indoor dining in the state, and close museums and casinos.
All 11 regions of Illinois have been subject to Tier 3 restrictive measures as of Nov. 20.
According to the governor’s office, some regions will move back to Tier 2, others possibly to Tier 1, and some will remain in Tier 3 – according to data reported Thursday afternoon.
“It’s going to be a mixed bag,” said a spokesman for the governor’s office.
However, as of Thursday, no region met guidelines to bring back indoor dining, although some were close, the spokesman said.
While it remains unclear exactly what the Governor will announce for each region on Friday, according to state guidelines, a region can switch to Tier 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 are decreasing COVID-19 hospital admissions in seven of the previous 10 days.
Regions with a positivity rate averaging between 6.5 percent and 8 percent are likely to be covered by the Tier 1 guidelines, although the state may still choose to check before the restrictions are lifted further.
However, to move to stage 4, the positivity rate must be less than or equal to 6.5 percent on average over a 3 day period.
Currently, Region 3 in western Illinois is the closest region to that statistic, with an average positivity rate of 6.9%. But that region is currently teetering on the brink of insufficient hospital bed availability and ICU bed capacity, which would mean it remains in Tier 3.
In addition to Region 3, Regions 1, 2 and 5 – which include Kendall, Grundy, LaSalle and DeKalb in the Chicago area – also currently meet guidelines to roll back some restrictions.
Regions 7 and 8 in the Chicago area are also close to meeting the stats for leaving Tier 3. (Click here for a full breakdown by region)