State Public Health officials say the one remaining region of the state not under stricter mitigations as a result of rising COVID-19 numbers will be starting Wednesday. Those mitigation factors include no indoor seating at bars or restaurants with a closing time of 11 pm and no gatherings of more than 25 people or 25-percent of a facilities capacity.
The announcement comes as the state reported another 6,980 confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Sunday along with 35 additional deaths. None of the deaths were in South Central Illinois, with one apiece in Alexander, Madison and Montgomery County.
With the new cases, the statewide positivity rate for the past week has risen to eight-percent. There were a total of 78,000 additional test results reported prior to the Sunday report.
The Southern Illinois Region positivity rate dropped a half-percent on Sunday to 9.6-percent. With a big positivity day falling off, the Marion County rate fell 3.4-percent to 7.6-cent. The Metro-East positivity rate rose four-tenths of a percent to 9.1-percent. The East Central Illinois Region increased another three-tenths of a percent to 9.3-percent.
