Bridge Phase To Start Next Week; Full Reopening In June: Pritzker

ILLINOIS — Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday that the state will enter the “bridge phase” of his reopening plan on May 14, which will loosen coronavirus pandemic restrictions in anticipation of the state fully reopening and moving toward a "new normal" by June 11.

Thursday’s announcement came as COVID-19-related hospitalizations and new cases of the coronavirus dropped across Illinois. The move to the bridge phase allow bars, restaurants and other businesses to expand capacity limits from where they have been under Phase 4 of the governor's Restore Illinois Plan.

A full reopening of the state will likely still require residents to wear masks, Pritzker said at a news conference Thursday. He said the state will continue to follow guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to keep the pandemic "at bay," but that both the bridge phase and the expected full reopening of the state by June represents a major step in the right direction.

"The light that we can see at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter as more people get vaccinated," Pritzker said.

On Thursday, state health officials announced a decline of daily positive coronavirus cases on a day when 1,778 new cases were announced. The new total was significantly lower than on Wednesday, when 2,410 confirmed cases were announced.

While state health officials saw a drop in the state’s caseload, the health department announced that deaths across Illinois are rising, with 40 COVID-19 deaths announced Thursday. The death toll matched that of April 15, when 40 people died from the disease, according to state health data. New hospitalizations have also dropped, officials said. On Thursday, the state announced that 200 people were admitted to hospitals over the past 24 hours.

Pritzker said he felt comfortable moving toward the bridge phase even with deaths rising because the metric is a "lagging indicator" rather than a leading indicator. Now, nearly two months after the state saw an unexpected surge in cases in early March, the governor said an increase in deaths is to be expected.

However, enough movement has been made to give him hope, although he is moving ahead cautiously.

"This good news comes with a caveat; we all have seen throughout this pandemic that this virus and its variants have proven to be unpredictable," Pritzker said. "Metrics that look strong today are far from a guarantee of how things will look a week, two weeks, a month from now. We saw that last August and again last March.

"But what we do know we have tools in arsenal ... that have proven extremely effective."

Pritzker’s plans to move ahead came just days after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she is anticipating the city fully reopening by July 4. The bridge phase also allows fully vaccinated residents to gather in small groups and allows for more people to gather at outdoor events sick as concerts, sporting events and other gatherings.

At an appearance with Lightfoot on Thursday, Pritzker was slow to set a date for the state to fully reopen but said he remains optimistic it will happen sooner than later.

"I want to make sure that I emphasize something that the mayor said, which is we can't predict the future and this virus has proven to be very challenging," the governor said. "Of course, we all experienced November and December and January here in Illinois, so we always are on guard. We're watching the numbers like a hawk, but I'm optimistic. I think things are going in the right direction."

As part of the bridge phase, businesses such as gyms, movie theaters and offices can open up to 60 percent capacity, Pritzker said. The phase is a metrics-based pathway toward the fifth and final reopening plan, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Health officials said Phase 5 will represent a post-pandemic “new normal” that will be part of the state completely reopening.

Health officials announced previously that once 70 percent of residents 65 and older had been vaccinated and hospitalizations and COVID-19-related deaths began to decline, the bridge to Phase 5 would begin. Phase 5 will begin once 50 percent of Illinois residents age 16 and up have been vaccinated and stable COVID-19 metrics have been recorded over a 28-day period, the department of public health said.

Pritzker and IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike also announced plans to help doctor's offices apply for vaccine access so family physicians will be able to administer vaccines to patients. Until now, many residents had relied on chain pharmacies to provide shots or went to mass vaccination sites to receive their shots.

With 9.7 million residents having gotten at least one shot, the governor said the days of vaccine scarcity are over and that the state has entered a "new phase" of vaccine administration of "meeting people where they are."

Pritzker said Thursday that 60 percent of the state's adult population has received at least one dose of the vaccine and that 85 percent of adults age 65 and older have gotten at least one shot. As of Thursday, more than 1,000 doctor's offices have signed up as vaccination administration sites, Pritzker said.

"We have the vaccine — all we need is the doctors," Pritzker said.

State officials are also encouraging pediatricians to apply to be able to administer vaccines in anticipation of emergency use authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for ages 12 and up, which could happen in the coming days. At this time, the governor said, the Pfizer vaccine would still require younger residents to receive two doses of the vaccine.

Emergency use authorization of vaccinations for students between the ages of 12 and 15 could come as early as next week, Ezike said. She said that residents having the option of a family doctor administering the shots could ease some of the discomfort many residents have felt about getting a shot.

"We want to keep moving forward and, to do that, we need to get more and more people vaccinated," Ezike said.