Southwest Illinois sees another triple-digit day of new COVID-19 cases, no new deaths
New COVID-19 cases continued to rise in southwestern Illinois on Thursday, while the region reported no new deaths.
Overall, counties reported 142 new cases of the virus, marking the 10th time in 11 days southwestern Illinois reported more than 100 new COVID-19 cases.
St. Clair County announced 60 new cases, down from 72 cases Thursday. The county now has 3,270 coronavirus cases and 149 deaths related to the virus, leading the metro-east in both categories. However, the county’s positivity rate dropped sharply from 15.9 percent Wednesday to 9.4 percent Thursday. The positivity rate is the number of coronavirus tests that are positive.
Cases reported Thursday in St. Clair County ranged in age from under 10 to people in their 70s, including 43 cases of people ages 20-40. Currently, 43 people remain hospitalized due to COVID-19 with one person 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.”
Samantha Bierman, St. Clair County Health Department emergency response coordinator, on Thursday also urged people to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines.
“I know we are probably tired of hearing the, ‘Wear your mask, socially distance from others and wash your hands,’ but those are three of the biggest keys that we can give people to start slowing the spread of this virus,” she said. “We, as the rest of the state did, thought we were on a good path when we opened up into the phase that we are currently in (of the state reopening plan).
“And then we saw people start to relax a little. The weather was nice. School was done. Everybody was getting out. And then we started to see our numbers rise again. While none of us want to regress and move back to the prior phase ... we don’t know what is in store for us if we continue down the road of our numbers increasing.
Bierman also discussed the marked increase of younger people testing positive.
“In the beginning, we saw that it was hitting our older population, our more medically vulnerable population. But now, by looking at the numbers, we see that it’s starting to hit that middle-aged (group), really between like 25 and 45. We’re seeing that population hit even harder.
“And while they might not have the medical issues that the older population had, that doesn’t mean that it still doesn’t knock you off of your feet. That doesn’t mean that, just because you’re in that age range, that you can’t spread it to members of your family.
“More often than not now we are seeing under 10 on our age groups for those that have been positive. I remember when we had the very first one, it was a shock to all of us. And now it’s seeming more common.”
One day after reporting a record number of daily cases (60), Madison County announced 51 new COVID-19 cases Thursday. Madison County now has 1,655 coronavirus cases and 71 virus-related deaths.
Cases reported Wednesday in Madison County ranged in ages from under 20 to people in their 80s, including 11 cases of individuals under 20 and 10 people in their 20s. As of Thursday afternoon, the county had a daily positivity rate of 7.73 percent, up from 7.50 percent Wednesday.
In a press release, 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.
As the result of businesses reopening and more social gathering, the positivity rate has increased, the press release noted.
“Most of the new cases are among younger people,” Toni Corona, public health director said. “We want to remind everyone to be responsible and continue to follow the recommended protocol of hand-washing, social distancing and wearing masks.”
Currently, St. Clair and Madison county’s seven-day rolling averages are 67 and 41 cases per day, respectively. The majority of cases in the metro-east are coming from those two counties.
Other counties throughout the metro-east reported new cases Thursday as well. Perry County reported 9 new cases, Monroe County reported 6 new cases, Clinton County and Washington County each reported 5 new cases, Jersey County reported 4 new cases and Bond County and Calhoun County each reported 1 new case.
Overall, according to a story from Capitol News Illinois, the positivity rate in the metro-east region was 6.9 percent as of July 20. That was slightly off the high of 7.1 percent, and the decrease meant that the area remained below the 8 percent positivity rate that would have led to state-mandated rollbacks of certain aspects of the economy.
Numbers update from Illinois
Meanwhile, the state announced 1,624 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday — its highest daily total in July — and 20 additional virus-related deaths.
Illinois has seen a total of 7,367 deaths during the pandemic as of Thursday, officials reported. A total of 166,925 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, while more than 2.3 million people have been tested for COVID-19, including nearly 40,000 since Wednesday.
Additionally, state health officials reported the preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests from July 16-22 is 3.4 percent. As of last night, 1,473 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 309 patients were in the ICU and 135 patients with COVID-19 were 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
Thursday’s new data: 60 new positives, no new deaths, 635 new tests administered, 6 new hospitalizations, 81 new recoveries
Total overall: 3,270 positives, 149 deaths, 29,109 tests administered with 33 pending results, 2,263 recoveries, 43 hospitalizations, 1 patient on a ventilator
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62059 (Brooklyn): 9 (+1)
- 62201 (East St. Louis): 165 (+1)
- 62203 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Washington Park, Caseyville): 123 (+4)
- 62204 (East St. Louis): 98 (+2)
- 62205 (East St. Louis, Alorton, Centreville): 125 (+1)
- 62206 (East St. Louis, Cahokia): 293 (+11)
- 62207 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Alorton): 179 (+3)
- 62208 (Fairview Heights): 196 (+9)
- 62220 (Belleville, Smithton): 263 (+3)
- 62221 (Belleville): 282 (+4)
- 62223 (Belleville, Swansea): 130 (+1)
- 62225 (Scott Air Force Base): 12
- 62226 (Belleville, Swansea): 334 (+7)
- 62232 (Fairview Heights, Caseyville): 69
- 62239 (Dupo): 27 (+1)
- 62240 (Dupo): 9 (+2)
- 62243 (Freeburg): 20 (+1)
- 62254 (Lebanon): 109 (+2)
- 62255 (Lenzburg): 9 (+1)
- 62257 (Marissa): 19
- 62258 (Mascoutah, Fayetteville): 42 (+3)
- 62260 (Millstadt): 32 (+1)
- 62264 (New Athens): 63
- 62269 (O’Fallon): 203 (+8)
- 62285 (Smithton): 27
MADISON COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 51 new positives, no new deaths, 660 new tests administered, 4 new recoveries
Total overall: 1,655 positives, 71 deaths, 30,417 tests administered, 739 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62201 (Alhambra): 6
- 62002 (Alton, East Alton, Godfrey): 229 (+1)
- 62010 (Bethalto): 61 (+1)
- 62018 (Alton, Bethalto, East Alton): 14
- 62024 (East Alton): 27 (+3)
- 62025 (Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Pontoon Beach, Roxana): 230 (+7)
- 62034 (Glen Carbon): 125 (+7)
- 62035 (Godfrey): 94 (+9)
- 62040 (Granite City, Pontoon Beach): 313 (+7)
- 62048 (Edwardsville, Granite City, Roxana, Hartford): 6
- 62060 (Granite City, Madison, Venice): 70 (+10)
- 62062 (Maryville): 37 (+6)
- 62067 (Moro): 9
- 62084 (Edwardsville, Wood River, Pontoon Beach, Roxana, South Roxana): 6
- 62090 (Madison, Venice): 20
- 62095 (Wood River): 42 (+1)
- 62097 (Worden): 7 (+1)
- 62234 (Collinsville, Pontoon Beach, State Park Place): 213 (+4)
- 62249 (Highland): 38 (+2)
- 62294 (Troy): 72
- 62281 (St. Jacob): 15 (+1)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: No new data as of 6 p.m.
Total overall: 384 positives, 7 deaths, 4,889 tests administered, 306 recoveries, 1 hospitalization
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62217 (Baldwin): 10
- 62233 (Chester): 131
- 62237 (Coulterville): 7
- 62241 (Ellis Grove): 9
- 62242 (Evansville): 8
- 62272 (Willisville, Percy): 54 (-1)
- 62278 (Red Bud): 49
- 62286 (Sparta): 67
- 62288 (Steeleville): 36
CLINTON COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 5 new positives
Total overall: 286 positives, 17 deaths, 245 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
Thursday’s new data: 6 new positives
Total overall: 210 positives, 12 deaths
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62236 (Columbia): 88 (+1)
- 62295 (Valmeyer): 14
- 62298 (Waterloo): 91 (+2)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Thursday’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
Thursday’s new data: 9 new positives, 1 new recovery
Total overall: 79 positives, 1 death, 62 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62238 (Cutler): 9 (+1)
- 62274 (Pinckneyville): 18 (+2)
- 62832 (Du Quoin): 29 (+3)
JERSEY COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 4 new positives, 4 new recoveries
Total overall: 58 positives, 1 death, 50 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62052 (Jerseyville): 28
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 5 new positives, 3 new recoveries
Total overall: 40 positives, 0 deaths, 30 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62263 (Nashville, New Minden): 12
- 62808 (Ashley): 7
- 62848 (Irvington): 7
BOND COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 1 new positive, 24 new tests administered
Total overall: 30 positives, 1 death, 19 recoveries, 2 hospitalizations, 1,869 tests administered
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62246 (Greenville): 20 (+1)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 1 new positive
Total overall: 5 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 Thursday afternoon:
- Illinois: 166,925 cases, 7,367 deaths
- U.S.: 4,122,672 cases, 146,547 deaths, 1,944,490 recoveries
- World: 15,494,973 cases, 632,490 deaths, 9,424,797 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 23, 2020 at 5:13 PM.