While both Randolph and Monroe County as of Friday, Aug. 14 were no longer listed by the State of Illinois as under a warning status for having two or more COVID-19 risk indicators, the Metro East region of the state crossed the threshold for resurgence metrics over the weekend causing additional restrictions for the area to go into effect.
On Aug. 14, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported that Region 4, the Metro East region (which consists of Randolph, Monroe, St. Clair, Washington, Bond, Madison and Clinton Counties), had been “seeing increases in test positivity rates and could surpass the resurgence metrics in the coming days.” As of that afternoon, the region was showing a positivity rate of 8.2 percent.
With the state’s resurgence mitigation plan that had been announced back in July, it was noted that additional mitigation measures would be implemented for any region of the state that experienced three or more consecutive days of 8 percent test positivity (based on a seven day rolling average).
For more on the new restrictions, please see this week’s print edition.