The Illinois government, JB Pritzker, is expected to announce a new reopening plan later this week that will eventually allow the state to return to normal, but under new guidelines.
Illinois is currently under Phase 4 of the Restore-Illinois plan that the governor announced early last year in the pandemic. The next phase is Phase 5, which is a complete reopening, but requires a widely available vaccine or a very effective treatment for coronavirus.
But during a Senate health committee meeting, dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said a new reopening plan could be announced later this week.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Ezike said “there could be another phase” between Phase 4 and Phase 5. Few details have been released, but one thing is certain: masks will still be mandatory in the state, she said, adding that “masks must remain a mainstay.”
A spokesman for the governor confirmed that Pritzker was in ‘talks with industry and health experts’.
Earlier this month, Texas became the largest state to lift its mask rule and joined a fast-growing movement by governors and other leaders across the U.S. to ease COVID-19 restrictions despite pleas from health officials to not let their guard down. too late.
The Mississippi government, Tate Reeves, said it was getting rid of most of the mask mandates it had imposed to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. He also removes most other restrictions, including the restrictions on seating in restaurants.
The Alabama government, Kay Ivey, has also announced that it will extend the state’s mask mandate until April 9, but will lift the mandate after that date.
With the increase in coronavirus vaccinations in Illinois, and the expansion of suitability, a complete reopening is approaching, but Pritzker has repeatedly said that the state is not there yet.
“You know, I said from an early age that what we need is an effective vaccine that we can spread widely and a very effective or a very effective treatment that we can spread widely and that we get there,” Pritzker said. said earlier month. “I mean … about one in seven Illinoisans already has their first dose in their arms. We need to get closer to herd immunity so everyone can feel, you know, that we’re beyond phase four and that we’re capable is to be able to reopen everything completely. ‘
Herd immunity is defined by the World Health Organization as ‘when a population is immune through vaccination or immunity developed by previous infection’, although the group notes that such immunity to coronavirus should be achieved by protecting people through vaccination, not by not exposing them to the pathogen that causes the disease. ‘
The exact amount of herd immunity needed to reopen remains unclear, especially as concerns arise about the variants of the virus emerging in the US and around the world, and whether the current vaccines will continue to protect.
“We are still learning about the immunity to COVID-19,” the WHO reported. “Most people infected with COVID-19 develop an immune response within the first few weeks, but we do not know how strong or lasting the immune response is, or how it differs for different people. There are also reports of humans for a second time infected with COVID-19. Until we better understand the COVID-19 immunity, it is not possible to know how much of a population is immune and how long that immunity lasts, let alone future forecasts. “
However, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has already said the city could see a summer more like ‘what we normally experience’, and the governors’ office noted that McCormick Place could also bring back some opportunities.
“We know so much more about the virus, how it spreads like we did a year ago,” Lightfoot said last week. “We know in particular from outside events – that we can manage it in a safe way that complies with public health guidelines. Like I said, I think the summer of 2021 looks more like what we normally experience.”
Illinois lifted its differentiated mitigation plan earlier this year and brought all of its regions back to Phase 4 guidelines as cases and hospitalizations continue to decline in the state. The move to Phase 4 has brought back indoor dining and reopened several businesses, while expanding capacity constraints in others.
The first vaccinations for coronavirus were administered in Illinois in January when health workers and long-term care residents and staff began receiving doses.
Since then, the state has entered the next phase of vaccination of the vaccine, called Phase 1B, which opens the vaccines to essential workers and residents 65 years and older. The group expanded to people aged 16 and older with certain high-risk medical conditions and illnesses. Chicago, along with several suburbs and health care systems, chose not to enter the extended phase, citing restrictions on supply.
Pritzker said Monday that Illinois plans to exceed President Joe Biden’s promise to be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by May 1.
“I just think people need to start thinking a lot about … the fact that we’ll open it up to everyone relatively sooner than I think people expected,” Pritzker said in a one-on-one interview with NBC. 5’s Mary Ann Ahern.
In total, Illinois received 5,038,635 doses of the vaccine, and a total of 4,102,810 were administered in the state.