Pritzker says Illinois has seen slight stabilization in COVID testing rate

CHICAGO, Ill. (WTVO) — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker again urged residents to stay home in the coming weeks to ease the burden on healthcare workers, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise statewide.

The entire state is scheduled to enter Tier 3 mitigations on Friday, which effectively shuts down indoor dining across the state, restricts retail stores to 25% of capacity, closes movie theaters, and suggests office workers work-from-home.

Pritzker said in the past 2 or 3 days, there has been a slight stabilization in the state’s daily reported cases, although the cases are “still extraordinarily high.”

“We’ll have to wait to see if this is a trend,” Pritzker said, adding that the state won’t see hospitalization rates increase or decrease for a few days yet.

On Wednesday, the governor said it would take two incubation periods, 28 days, to determine if the stricter mitigation measures have had any effect.

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 14,612 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 168 additional deaths.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from November 12 – November 18, 2020 is 12.0%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from November 12 – November 18, 2020 is 14.0%.

Region 1’s 7-day rolling positivity average: 19.5% (19.9% yesterday)

Boone: 31% (31.2% yesterday)
Carroll: 17.7% (17.1% yesterday)
DeKalb: 14.8% (15.1% yesterday)
Jo Daviess: 20.6% (17.9% yesterday)
Lee: 17.2% (16.1% yesterday)
Ogle: 17.6% (18.7% yesterday)
Stephenson: 19% (20.5% yesterday)
Whiteside: 24.5% (25.3% yesterday)
Winnebago: 18.9% (19.5% yesterday)

Hospital bed availability 32% — threshold is 20% (35% yesterday)
ICU Bed Availability at 35% — threshold is 20% (37% yesterday)

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