Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health have announced the Metro East Region will return to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan at five Friday afternoon.
While the rate of testing in Region 4 has remained relatively stable, the rolling average positivity rate in the region has fallen from a high of 10.5 percent on August 27, 2020, to a rate of 5.8 percent today. The rollback is a result of close coordination between IDPH, local health departments, and community leaders encouraging proven and targeted mitigation efforts.
Region 4 — which includes Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair, and Washington counties — initially moved to stricter mitigations on August 18, following three consecutive days of a rolling positivity rate above 8%. On September 2, additional mitigations were implemented after the region increased its positivity rate to a 7-day rolling positivity rate of 9.6%.
As of Friday, Region 4 has reached the threshold to lift mitigations following three consecutive days of a rolling positivity rate below 6.5%. Therefore, indoor dining and bar service can resume along with larger gathering sizes as outlined in Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan. IDPH will continue working closely with the region to prevent another spike in cases.
