BREAKING NEWS: While covid-19 numbers across Illinois have been getting worse, particularly in the Quad-Cities’ Region 2, that may not automatically trigger shutdowns and mitigations, Illinois Department of Health officials said today.

Recent Illinois Region 2 covid numbers show a rising tide which doesn’t bode well.

“The resurgence mitigation plan was designed before we had vaccines,” Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said in a statement.

All 11 of Illinois’ regions are in Phase 4, where they’ve been since emerging from mitigations in February. Previously, mitigations would automatically kick in, triggering more restrictions, when a region tipped on the downside of the metrics.

A region triggers a backslide to Tier 1 in the COVID-19 mitigation plan if it records a positivity

The covid vaccine is now available to anyone 16 and older.

rate of 8% or greater for three consecutive days (the Quad-Cities’ Region 2 has been nearing 8%, over 7% for more than a week); records increasing positivity rates over seven of the 10 preceding days (Region 2 has had increasing positivity rate all 10 of the last 10 days) and either see increases in hospitalizations over seven of the 10 preceding days or ICU bed availability lower than 20% for three consecutive days (Region 2 has not hit this metric, but has been close, with bed availability typically being around that mark), according to the IDPH’s resurgence plan website.

However, IDPH officials have said that even if regions hit those metrics, they might not automatically trigger Tier 1 mitigations, and that it would be decided depending on the context and numbers.

Illinois health officials reported 2,587 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases in the past day, bringing the state total to of 1,306,787 cases since the pandemic began. The total death toll for the state is 21,694, according to IDPH numbers.

More than 80,000 vaccines have been administered in the last day in the state.

For continuing coverage of the covid crisis and how it impacts the Quad-Cities area, continue to watch QuadCities.com.

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Sean Leary Director of Digital Media

Sean Leary is an author, director, artist, musician, producer and entrepreneur who has been writing professionally since debuting at age 11 in the pages of the Comics Buyers Guide. An honors graduate of the University of Southern California masters program, he has written over 50 books including the best-sellers The Arimathean, Every Number is Lucky to Someone and We Are All Characters.