(Meagan Davis / Wikimedia Commons)

Nine of the state’s 11 regions have triggered the state’s fail-safe metrics designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, with the addition of much of West-Central Illinois, including Springfield and Quincy, on Thursday.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday that indoor service at bars and restaurants will halt Sunday in Hancock, Adams, Pike, Calhoun, Jersey, Greene, Scott, Brown, Schuyler, Cass, Morgan, Macoupin, Montgomery, Christian, Sangamon, Logan, Menard and Mason counties due to rising positivity rates.

All bars and restaurants in the region must close by 11 p.m. and all patrons must be seated at outdoor tables, according to the mitigation plan. Additionally, gatherings must be limited to 25 people or 25% of a room’s overall capacity.

“Something has got to give, and these mitigations aim to cut down on those high-risk activities until we bring down the positivity rate in an area once again,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Because let’s be clear: well-meaning and reasonable people can have fair disagreements about how and where to draw lines and connect dots — but when every single metric in every single corner of the state is trending poorly, we have to take meaningful action to keep our people safe.”

Businesses that don’t comply with face covering mandates, social distancing and capacity limits could face fines up to $2,500 and misdemeanor charges.

The area, known as Region 3 in the state’s resurgence plan, recorded an average positivity rate of more than 8% for three days, and reached 8.8% Thursday.

The region is the first in Central Illinois to surpass the test-positivity metrics set by state officials.

“For those residents living in regions and communities where the virus didn’t seem to be ‘that bad,’ things are changing with positivity rates steadily increasing,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. “We’ve seen regions move into and then out of mitigation, so we know the measures work. The more people adhere to the measures, the quicker we can move out of mitigation.”

COVID-19 Cases in Illinois

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Contact Heather Cherone:@HeatherCherone| (773) 569-1863 |[email protected]