
The family of Danielle Kater, a Bloomington woman who passed away from COVID-19 on Nov. 3, speak at Gov. J.B. Pritzker's daily COVID-19 briefing Friday, urging Illinoisans to listen to health guidance and avoid large gatherings.
SPRINGFIELD — The state reported another 126 COVID-19-related deaths Friday as Tier 3 mitigations took effect statewide and virus-related hospitalizations continued to increase.
That brought the death toll since the pandemic began to 11,304 out of 634,395 confirmed or probable cases. The newly reported deaths occurred in people ranging from their 20s to older than 100.
“Today is the first formal day of our temporary Tier 3 mitigations,” Pritzker said during a news conference Friday in Chicago. “Remember, the core philosophy here is that if we all stay home as much as possible, if we all avoid the trips outside the house that we don't need to take right now, we can fight this recent surge and turn things around for our health care workers and hospital systems who are facing an increasingly dangerous situation across the state. And we can potentially pull back on these mitigations for everyone before the December holidays.”
The new mitigations strictly limit capacity at retail stores and other Illinois businesses and require casinos and video gambling terminals to close, among other economic restrictions.
The mitigations took effect as the state reported 13,012 new confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 among a single-day record 116,024 test results reported. That made for a one-day positivity rate of 11.2%, which drove the seven-day rolling average case positivity rate to 11.5%, a decrease of a half point from the day prior.
At Pritzker’s briefing Friday, a Bloomington family shared the story of their daughter, Danielle Kater, who died from COVID-19 complications at 30 years of age.
Kater’s husband, Tim, said his wife of six years first lost her sense of smell on a Tuesday, her test came back positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, and by the weekend she was having minor difficulties breathing.
“But nothing that we were worried or concerned about, we just thought it was part of being sick and that we just needed to get through it,” he said.
But they purchased a pulse oximeter, which by Monday revealed low blood oxygen levels, so they went to the hospital. There, she was put on a BiPAP machine to aid in breathing. It helped, and Danielle began texting family from the hospital, telling them of improvement in her oxygen levels, Tim said.
“And later that night her oxygen levels dropped. They put her on a ventilator, which then, it kept the oxygen from going down further, but it never came back up,” he said.
By that Tuesday, Nov. 3, she had died.
“So you can only understand the devastation that our family has had through this,” Danielle’s mother, Tina Rubin, said in a virtual appearance at the news conference. “We lost our only daughter. Tim lost the love of his life. But through this, we want something positive. No, these aren’t just numbers, they're not just statistics. These are real people with real lives and real future that have been stolen by this virus.”
Moving forward, she said, “we want to take all this negative energy that we have right now and try to turn it into something positive.” She urged listeners to follow social distancing and quarantine guidance and stay home when possible.
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike noted it has been 10 months since the first COVID-19 case was identified in Illinois and the first known person-to-person transmission was logged in the state. Since that point, she said, health care professionals have worked around the clock to learn about the virus and share information with the public.
She said people came together to limit the spread of the virus in the first wave of April and May.
“When states across the United States and even some countries around the world began the stay-at-home orders, we all wanted to do whatever we could to prevent additional sickness and deaths,” she said. “And it worked. And the number of cases decreased, as well as the number of hospitalizations, as well as the number of deaths. They decreased dramatically.”
But now, Ezike said, amid a surging second wave, that support has faded.
“Just as real as the virus is, so is the COVID fatigue that is accompanying it,” she said. “And we're all tired of this virus, and we're tired of staying home, and we're tired of denying ourselves our common pleasures. But instead of blaming the virus for these concessions that we've been asked to make, we're looking to blame one another. And so I just want to urge people to be kind.”
Hospitalizations, meanwhile, increased in all three categories from the day prior as of Thursday night. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 6,111 hospital beds in use by COVID-19 patients, marking the 26th straight day of increases. That included 1,196 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit beds and 604 on ventilators.
Ezike noted Friday that the department would be changing the way it reports available hospital beds. Instead of reporting the number of actual beds in existence, IDPH will report the number of beds that have an adequate number of medical professionals to staff them.
That means that there are about 2,000 fewer hospital beds available and 430 fewer intensive care unit beds, according to the IDPH data from Thursday, as compared to the day before. That left about 25% of staffable beds and 19% of staffable ICU beds available.
Positivity rates declined in 10 of 11 regions from the day prior as of Tuesday, Nov. 17, the most recent day regional level data were available. As of Friday, 101 of the state’s 102 counties were at a warning level for COVID-19 spread, with only Union County in Southern Illinois not on the warning list.
Here are the 10 categories of new statewide COVID restrictions that went into effect Friday
Bars and restaurants

• All bars and restaurants close at 11 p.m. and may reopen no earlier than 6 a.m. the following day
• No indoor service
• All bar and restaurant patrons should be seated at tables outside
• No ordering, seating, or congregating at bar (bar stools should be removed)
• Tables should be 6 feet apart
• No standing or congregating outdoors while waiting for a table or exiting
• No dancing or standing indoors
• No tables exceeding 6 people
• Reservations required for each party
• No seating of multiple parties at one table
• Indoor gaming terminals must suspend operations
• Includes private clubs and country clubs
Health and fitness centers

• Operate at no more than 25% capacity
• No indoor group classes
• Face coverings must be worn at all times, including while engaged in individual exercise regardless of person or machine spacing
• Reservations required
• Locker room areas should be closed
Hotels

• Hotel room occupancy should be limited to registered guests only, with the maximum allowance being the number of individuals permissible per existing fire code for each applicable guest room
• Fitness centers should be closed, or operated only on a reservation model with capacity limited to 25% of the maximum occupancy for the room
• Grab and go food allowed
• Event and meeting space closed
Indoor recreation, theaters, cultural institutions

• Gaming and casinos close
• Indoor recreation centers, including theaters, performing arts centers and indoor museums and amusement centers, close
• Live streaming of performances encouraged with social distancing of performers and minimum operational staff
• Outdoor activities allowed at 25% capacity or less
• Outdoor group activities limited to 10 persons or less, participants/guests must wear face coverings at all times
• Reservations required for each guest for outdoor activities
Manufacturing

• Additional COVID training for all employees required even if previous training occurred
• Operators should coordinate with IDPH to implement testing protocols and contact tracing, upon request, consistent with available testing supplies
• All employees must wear face coverings at all times unless eating or drinking. Exemptions only for safety purposes.
• Only manufacturing staff and key personnel allowed in facilities. Non-production employees must work remotely. Non-essential staff and visitors are not permitted. Exemptions only for critical equipment repairs, supply deliveries and safety reasons (“critical visitors”).
• All critical visitors must have an Employee Health and Safety (EHS)-approved risk-assessment done in advance, including travel history, tracking, and temperature check prior to entrance.
• Implement additional workstation realignment when feasible
• Stagger and space shifts, and designate shift entrances and exits (when possible) to minimize interactions of employees across unique shift groupings
• Station sanitation required at beginning and ending of shifts
• Operators must suspend COVID-related incentive pay and promote staying home when sick or showing symptoms
• Implement temporary leave policies to accommodate workers who are sick
• Develop and implement safety protocols for employee travel vans to promote spacing, require face coverings, temperature checks, air circulation, and vehicle sanitization
Meetings, social events and gatherings (including weddings, potlucks, etc.)

• Limit in home gatherings to household members
• Meeting rooms, banquet centers, private party rooms, private clubs and country clubs may not host gatherings
• No party buses
• Funerals are limited to 10 family members of the decedents, not including staff, see IDPH guidance
Organized group recreational activities (sports, indoor sports and activity facilities, etc.)

• Pause all indoor group sporting and recreational activities including youth and adult recreational sports, individual training may remain (with facility reservation)
• Includes park districts and travel leagues
• Outdoor sports and recreation allowed
• Participant groups and practices outdoors limited to 10 persons or less with social distancing
• Face coverings required for all activities at all times
• Locker rooms should be closed
Personal care service

• Operate at lesser of 25 clients or 25% capacity
• Face coverings must be worn at all times by clients and service providers
• Suspend services where a face covering cannot be worn (e.g. facials, beard trims)
• Physical, occupational and massage therapy allowed as deemed necessary by a medical provider, but appointments must be spaced by a minimum of 15 minutes and facilities should take steps to sanitize and circulate clean air through service rooms before and after each service
• Virtual consultations recommended
Retail (including service counters)

• Operate at no more than 25% capacity, including general merchandise stores, "big box" stores that offer groceries and pharmacy, and convenience stores
• Grocery stores and pharmacies may operate at up to 50% capacity
• Encourage delivery or curbside pickup options wherever possible
• When in-store shopping is necessary, promote efficient trips and consistent circulation
Office

• All employees who can work remotely should work remotely