Evanston Shifts To Tier 2 Coronavirus Mitigation Measures

EVANSTON, IL — State public health officials have lifted some limitations on activities in Evanston with this week's downgrade of Tier 3 COVID-19 restrictions, the strictest measures to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus imposed since the stay-at-home order issued by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last March as the number of cases surged.

Evanston has entered Tier 2, which means cultural institutions, like museums, are permitted to open. Under Tier 2 coronavirus mitigation measures, gatherings of up to 10 people or less are allowed, and certain sports and group recreational activities can reopen. Sporting and fitness facilities can open with up to 25 people or 25 percent of capacity, according to state officials.

On Monday, two days after announcing changes to Tier 1 restrictions that will allow indoor dining, the Pritzker administration announced modifications to the metrics it would use to determine regional reopening. State officials dropped the requirement that hospitals maintain at least 20 percent of their hospital beds outside of intensive care units staffed and empty.

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said the state has established a new surge staffing program to make sure there would be adequate hospital staff. She said hospital officials assured the Pritzker administration the 20 percent ICU availability metric would be sufficient for measuring capacity.

“We are pleased to see most of our regions move out of Tier 3 mitigations with this change, and it is critical that we maintain this progress," Ezike said in a statement. "With new variants of COVID-19 spreading, it is more important than ever to follow the public health guidance that keeps people safe – wear your mask and watch your distance.”

According to the latest hospitalization utilization numbers available from state public health officials, about 15 percent of patients in the state's hospitals had COVID-19. And as of Monday, about 10 percent of the state's hospital beds were occupied with patients with COVID-19.

Of the state's 3,320 staffed ICU beds, about 20 percent were occupied by patients with COVID-19. The state reopening metrics still include the three-day rolling average percentage of beds available in a region's ICU.

The metrics do not include any measurement of the number of new cases, known as the incidence rate.

State public health officials have included such a metric in the non-binding recommendations offered to volunteer local school board officials, who are tasked with making school reopening decisions. Most have deferred to the suggestions of their district's superintendents.

In Evanston, Evanston/Skokie School District 65's superintendent Wednesday announced plans to offer in-person learning for the first time since March 2020 on Feb. 16. Evanston Township High School District 202 has not established any reopening metrics that would lead to a move to a hybrid of remote and in-person learning, although administrators have suggested an 8 percent regional positivity rate as a possible factor.

According to Evanston's health department, there were nine new coronavirus cases detected Thursday out of 464 specimens collected, which equates to a positivity rate of about 2 percent. The city's dashboard does not provide any rolling averages of daily cases or test positivity.

As of Thursday, suburban Cook County, or Region 10 in the governor's reopening plan, was two additional days of average test positivity below 8 percent would allow for a move from Tier 2 to Tier 1, which would allow limited indoor dining to reopen, as well as gatherings of up to 25 people.