St. Clair, Madison counties report 133 new COVID-19 cases, no new deaths
St. Clair County reported 87 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday — its second highest daily total since the pandemic began — but no new deaths.
Overall, counties reported 158 new cases of the virus Friday, marking the 11th time in 12 days southwestern Illinois reported more than 100 new COVID-19 cases. The region reported no new deaths and has reported one new death since July 17.
St. Clair County now has 3,357 coronavirus cases and 149 deaths related to the virus, leading the metro-east in both categories. The daily positivity rate is 11 percent, up from 9.4 percent Thursday. The positivity rate is the number of coronavirus tests that are positive.
The county did not see a double-digit increase in any one zip code. However, only five of 25 zip codes reported no new cases, those being 62232 (Fairview Heights, Caseyville); 62243 (Freeburg); 62255 (Lenzburg); 62257 (Marissa); and 62258 (Mascoutah, Fayetteville).
The previous daily high for St. Clair County was 105 new cases July 18.
Cases reported Friday in St. Clair County ranged in age from under 10 to people in their 90s, including a total of 9 cases of young people under 10 and in their teens, 18 cases of people in their 20s, 18 cases of people in their 30s and 17 cases of people in their 40s. Currently, 46 people remain hospitalized due to COVID-19, but no one is on a ventilator in St. Clair County.
Herb Simmons, director of the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency, used a bowl of candy Thursday to illustrate the risk of not following COVID-19 health guidelines.
”We have still a percentage of people out there that want to be the naysayers, as I call them ... The naysayers that follow this (EMA Facebook) page and the naysayers out there even across the country say that the kill rate of this virus is only about 2 percent. I’ve got about 100 pieces of candy there and I’ve got two pieces in there that are deadly. If you bite one of them, it kills you. Help yourself.“
Simmons added, “When you go out in public and you’re not wearing that mask and you’re not washing your hands and you’re not doing social distancing, you are gambling not only with your life but whoever you’re around.”
Madison County, meanwhile, reported 46 new cases — down from 51 on Thursday — but no new deaths. Madison County now has 1,655 coronavirus cases and 71 virus-related deaths.
Cases reported Friday in Madison County ranged in ages from under 20 to people in their 70s, including 16 cases of people in their 20s. The county also saw a sharp decrease in its daily positivity rate from 7.73 percent Thursday to 4.89 percent Friday.
In a press release Thursday, Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler said he called all the cities and mayors and stressed the importance of hand-washing, social distancing and wearing masks “where appropriate.” He also praised the county’s health department.
“Our health department has done a great job. The department focused on nursing homes, which have accounted for more than 80 percent of all deaths,” Prenzler said.
Currently, the seven-day rolling averages for St. Clair County and Madison County are 69 and 42 cases per day, respectively. St. Clair’s rose from 67 on Thursday, while Madison’s increased from 41 on Thursday. The majority of cases in the metro-east are coming from those two counties.
Other counties throughout the metro-east reported new cases Friday as well, including Monroe County, which announced 6 new cases. Monroe County Health Department Administrator John Wagner said via email the majority of the county’s cases have involved people in the age range of 20-40 with most experiencing minor symptoms.
Wagner continued, saying he expects they will be released from quarantine after 10 days have passed from a positive test provided they are no longer running a temperature and symptoms are decreasing, if they ever had symptoms.
“Increases in positives have decreased over the past week from the spike we saw last week,” Wagner said. “While an increase in positives is not something I like to see, the recent new positives have resulted in no increase in hospitalizations and was expected with the opening of businesses and the 4th of July holiday weekend.”
Also on Friday, the Illinois Department of Public Health issued reported four counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for coronavirus cases, including Randolph County. A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.
For Randolph, the IDPH noted the reasons for the spike include congregate settings, numerous bars not complying with distancing and masking, a large party with more than 200 people, and among households. The county announced 8 new cases Friday and has 403 cases overall.
Other cases announced Friday included Perry County with 4 new cases, Clinton County with 3 new cases, and Washington County, Bond County and Calhoun County each with 1 new case.
Numbers update from Illinois
Meanwhile, the state announced 1,532 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday and 19 additional virus-related deaths.
Illinois has seen a total of 7,385 deaths during the pandemic as of Friday, officials reported. A total of 168,457 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, while more than 2.4 million people have been tested for COVID-19, including 44,330 since Thursday.
Additionally, state health officials reported Friday the seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for COVID-19 tests remained at 3.4 percent after four days of increasing. The 1,532 new cases reported were among 44,330 test results reported, making for a one-day positivity rate of 3.5 percent.
Hospitalizations remained roughly level near their pandemic lows, with 1,471 COVID-19-positive patients in hospital beds, including 325 in intensive care unit beds and 115 on ventilators.
Here are the latest available statistics for southwestern Illinois counties. The number in parenthesis reflects how the new daily total compares to the prior day total. Subtractions occur when a COVID-19 positive patient is misdiagnosed or moves away from the area.
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 87 new positives, no new deaths, 632 new tests administered, 3 new hospitalizations, 59 new recoveries
Total overall: 3,357 positives, 149 deaths, 29,741 tests administered with 50 pending results, 2,322 recoveries, 46 hospitalizations, no patients on a ventilator
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62059 (Brooklyn): 10 (+1)
- 62201 (East St. Louis): 168 (+3)
- 62203 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Washington Park, Caseyville): 130 (+7)
- 62204 (East St. Louis): 99 (+1)
- 62205 (East St. Louis, Alorton, Centreville): 130 (+5)
- 62206 (East St. Louis, Cahokia): 297 (+4)
- 62207 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Alorton): 188 (+9)
- 62208 (Fairview Heights): 202 (+6)
- 62220 (Belleville, Smithton): 267 (+4)
- 62221 (Belleville): 290 (+8)
- 62223 (Belleville, Swansea): 138 (+8)
- 62225 (Scott Air Force Base): 13 (+1)
- 62226 (Belleville, Swansea): 336 (+2)
- 62232 (Fairview Heights, Caseyville): 69
- 62239 (Dupo): 31 (+4)
- 62240 (Dupo): 11 (+2)
- 62243 (Freeburg): 20
- 62254 (Lebanon): 111 (+3)
- 62255 (Lenzburg): 9
- 62257 (Marissa): 19
- 62258 (Mascoutah, Fayetteville): 42
- 62260 (Millstadt): 34 (+2)
- 62264 (New Athens): 64 (+1)
- 62269 (O’Fallon): 208 (+5)
- 62285 (Smithton): 28 (+1)
MADISON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 46 new positives, no new deaths, 940 new tests administered, 14 new recoveries
Total overall: 1,701 positives, 71 deaths, 31,4357 tests administered, 753 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62201 (Alhambra): 6
- 62002 (Alton, East Alton, Godfrey): 234 (+5)
- 62010 (Bethalto): 62 (+1)
- 62018 (Alton, Bethalto, East Alton): 15 (+1)
- 62024 (East Alton): 27
- 62025 (Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Pontoon Beach, Roxana): 236 (+6)
- 62034 (Glen Carbon): 128 (+3)
- 62035 (Godfrey): 95 (+1)
- 62040 (Granite City, Pontoon Beach): 313 (+7)
- 62048 (Edwardsville, Granite City, Roxana, Hartford): 6
- 62060 (Granite City, Madison, Venice): 71 (+1)
- 62062 (Maryville): 38 (+1)
- 62067 (Moro): 9
- 62084 (Edwardsville, Wood River, Pontoon Beach, Roxana, South Roxana): 6
- 62090 (Madison, Venice): 20
- 62095 (Wood River): 45 (+3)
- 62097 (Worden): 7
- 62234 (Collinsville, Pontoon Beach, State Park Place): 218 (+5)
- 62249 (Highland): 40 (+2)
- 62294 (Troy): 77 (+5)
- 62281 (St. Jacob): 16 (+1)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 8 new positives, 69 new tests administered
Total overall: 403 positives, 7 deaths, 5,104 tests administered, 321 recoveries, 1 hospitalization, 7.8 percent positivity rate
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62217 (Baldwin): 10
- 62233 (Chester): 131
- 62237 (Coulterville): 7
- 62241 (Ellis Grove): 9
- 62242 (Evansville): 8
- 62272 (Willisville, Percy): 54
- 62278 (Red Bud): 49
- 62286 (Sparta): 67
- 62288 (Steeleville): 36
CLINTON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 3 new positives, 3 new recoveries
Total overall: 294 positives, 17 deaths, 248 recoveries, 1 hospitalization
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62215 (Albers, Damiansville): 7
- 62216 (Aviston): 12
- 62230 (Breese): 31 (+1)
- 62231 (Carlyle): 93 (+4)
- 62245 (Germantown): 8
- 62265 (New Baden): 54
- 62293 (Trenton): 16
- 62801 (Centralia): 86
MONROE COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 6 new positives
Total overall: 216 positives, 12 deaths
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62236 (Columbia): 88 (+3)
- 62295 (Valmeyer): 14
- 62298 (Waterloo): 91 (+3)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 5 p.m.
Total overall: 107 positives, 4 deaths, 8,570 tests administered with 78 pending results, 54 recoveries, 1 hospitalization
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62012 (Brighton): 19
62014 (Bunker Hill): 10
62033 (Gillespie): 11
62069 (Mount Olive): 12
- 62088 (Staunton): 15
- 62626 (Carlinville): 21
PERRY COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 4 new positives
Total overall: 83 positives, 1 death, 62 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62238 (Cutler): 9 (+1)
- 62274 (Pinckneyville): 18 (+2)
- 62832 (Du Quoin): 29 (+3)
JERSEY COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 5 p.m.
Total overall: 58 positives, 1 death, 50 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62052 (Jerseyville): 28
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 1 new positive, 4 new recoveries
Total overall: 41 positives, 0 deaths, 34 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62263 (Nashville, New Minden): 12
- 62808 (Ashley): 7
- 62848 (Irvington): 7
BOND COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 2 new positives, 1 new recovery, 24 new tests administered
Total overall: 32 positives, 1 death, 20 recoveries, 2 hospitalizations, 1,893 tests administered
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62246 (Greenville): 20 (+1)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 1 new positive
Total overall: 6 positives, 0 deaths, 2 recoveries
State, nation, world statistics
Here are the latest available statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus map as of Friday afternoon:
- Illinois: 168,457 cases, 7,385 deaths
- U.S.: 4,200,751 cases, 147,713 deaths, 1,988,921 recoveries
- World: 15,789,071 cases, 639,039 deaths, 9,622,747 recoveries
Want to help? Here are some ideas
The BND has compiled a list of ways you can help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Go to BND. com to learn about the opportunities to volunteer your time or donate to help communities in the metro-east without putting yourself or others at risk.
You can sew face masks, read stories for people with vision loss and deliver meals to seniors.
If you know of a recognized charitable organization looking for help that isn’t listed, please tell us about it. Send an email to newsroom@bnd.com or fill out the BND’s Southwest Illinois Coronavirus Service and Assistance Guide online at BND.com.
Get the latest news on coronavirus
BND.com will keep you updated throughout the day with information about the spread of the coronavirus in southwestern Illinois.
You can also find the most complete and up-to-date information from government sites including:
- State of Illinois’ COVID-19 page: coronavirus.illinois.gov
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html
- Federal government’s coronavirus page: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Who to call about mental health
Here are some resources from mental health professionals for anyone struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Touchette Regional Hospital’s Mental Health Support and Resource Line: Call 618-482-7158 to talk to trained therapy staff.
- Illinois Human Services Mental Health Division’s Call4Calm: Text the word “talk” to 552020 to text with a mental health care professional for free.
- Centerstone of Illinois, Inc.: Call 618-462-2331 for virtual mental health services.
- Chestnut Health Systems: Call 618-877-4420 for virtual mental health services.
- Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous: Call 618-398-9409 or email metroeastnapr@gmail.com to learn about virtual meetings.
- Regional Disaster Mental Health Volunteer Response Team: Call a support line for health care professionals at 618-381-5173.
Contact BND with tips, concerns, suggestions
If you have suggestions about something for the BND to cover regarding the COVID-19 pandemic or if you see a report that sounds suspicious on social media or anywhere else, please drop us a note at newsroom@bnd.com and include a link. We’ll check it out.
We’d like to hear from health-care workers
The BND would like to speak with nurses, doctors and other health care professionals who are on the front lines caring for patients in doctor’s offices, clinics and hospitals during this difficult time. We’re interested in hearing about your challenges and rewards, frustrations and accomplishments. How is this affecting you? Send us an email at newsroom@bnd.com.
Willing to share your COVID-19 story?
Have you recovered from coronavirus or are you in the process of recovering from COVID-19? We would like to hear from you on how you dealt with the respiratory disease. Send us an email at newsroom@bnd.com.
This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 5:01 PM.