Phase 5 Illinois News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Chicago is seeing a rolling seven-day average of 135 new COVID cases per day, which is down 44% from last week and under the 200 cases per day metric that the city's health officials have long said would indicate that the pandemic's spread is more under control. Hospitalizations are down 57% from the prior week as of Thursday and deaths are down to an average of four per day, city data shows. The percent positivity in coronavirus testing was at 2.0% Wednesday - which Lightfoot highlighted as the city's lowest rate since March 2020. "We know the vaccine is safe and works," Lightfoot tweete...

Barring a significant rise in COVID-19 metrics, Illinois could lift all capacity limitations and fully reopening its economy as soon as June 11.

"I believe that we've talked about - we meaning myself and [Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady] - that we hope to get to fully open by Fourth of July. We will see what happens by June 11," Lightfoot said Wednesday. "We're definitely trending in the right direction, but the minute I say that I worry because we've been here before. But our cases are going down, our percent positivity is going down, hospitalizations, ICU - all the metrics that we follow on a daily basis are all trending in the right direction, but we've got to keep getting people vaccinated. But ...

According to the Chicago Tribune, Ezike said "there may be one more phase" between Phase 4 and Phase 5. Few details have been revealed, but one thing is certain: masks will continue to be mandated in the state, she said, adding that "masks have to continue to be a mainstay.” A spokesperson for the governor confirmed Pritzker has been in "discussions with industry and health experts." Earlier this month, Texas became the biggest state to lift its mask rule, joining a rapidly growing movement by governors and other leaders across the U.S. to loosen COVID-19 restrictions despite pleas from h...