Health officials in southwestern Illinois report 162 new cases of coronavirus Sunday
Southwestern Illinois health officials reported 162 new coronavirus cases Sunday.
St. Clair County reported 65 new confirmed cases and no new deaths. The county now has 4,409 total cases and 158 total deaths, leading the region in both categories.
Behind St. Clair was Madison County, which reported 53 new confirmed cases and no new deaths. The county has 2,557 cases and 77 deaths.
Elsewhere in the region, Monroe County reported seven new cases and in Perry County, the health department announced 37 new positive cases and announced the death of a woman in her 90s. A long-term facility in the county had 20 patients test positive and seven employees test positive.
Statewide, 1,382 new confirmed cases and eight new deaths were announced Sunday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 statistics.
Threshold for state-imposed COVID restrictions
As of Thursday, the latest date information was available, an average of 7.3% of the coronavirus tests performed in the metro-east over the past seven days were positive, a higher rate than Chicago or any other region of Illinois.
State officials define the metro-east as St. Clair, Madison, Clinton, Randolph, Monroe, Washington and Bond counties.
One of the state’s benchmarks for bringing back restrictions on businesses and activities is if 8% or more of the tests are positive on average for three consecutive days. In the metro-east, that number has been at least 6% since July 12 and has gotten as high as 7.8% on July 25.
Compliance with guidelines
Metro-east leaders, from mayors to police chiefs, have been sharing the state’s safety guidelines on their websites and social media in recent weeks as the positivity rate climbed. They sought compliance with the rules, which call for face masks in public places, at least 6 feet of distance between people and no more than 50 people in a crowd.
That included St. Clair County health officials, who spoke during a news conference on Sunday about how important it is for people under 40 — who now make up almost two-thirds of cases in the county — to wear masks.
“There are so many asymptomatic people, and that’s where we have the power,” said St. Clair County Health Department Executive Director Barb Hohlt. “That’s why we have continued community spread and those are exactly the folks who have to (wear masks).”
St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern asked Hohlt where the department hears people contracted the virus from when doing contact tracing.
“It’s groups, social gatherings, bars and different places, whether at home or out, they feel they don’t need to wear a mask at,” she said. “They don’t feel sick. We get people who are shocked when we tell them they’re positive.”
On Friday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration filed an emergency rule to give local authorities more power to enforce the state mask mandate at schools, businesses and childcare facilities. After a reminder of the rule and a warning about a violation, authorities could ultimately fine a business or agency.
The proposed emergency rule has to go to a committee of legislators for approval. Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, is a member of the committee that will consider it.
Some cities are discussing their own mask ordinances to potentially fine citizens for breaking the rule, including in East St. Louis, Cahokia, Fairview Heights, O’Fallon and Edwardsville.
Southwestern Illinois COVID-19 statistics
The following are the latest available statistics by county. ZIP code level numbers are provided by the state. ZIP codes with fewer than five cases of the virus are not reported. The number in parentheses reflects the change from the previous day’s total. A decrease reflects a correction. All other information comes from local health departments. The “recoveries” figure refers to the number of people who completed 14 days of isolation in most counties:
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Sunday’s new data: 65 new positives, 956 new tests administered, 40 new recoveries
Total overall: 4,409 positives, 158 deaths, 44,124 tests administered, 3,315 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62059 (Brooklyn): 10
- 62201 (East St. Louis): 189 (-1)
- 62203 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Washington Park, Caseyville): 160 (+1)
- 62204 (East St. Louis): 121 (+1)
- 62205 (East St. Louis, Alorton, Centreville): 162 (+2)
- 62206 (East St. Louis, Cahokia): 356 (-1)
- 62207 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Alorton): 210 (+2)
- 62208 (Fairview Heights): 280 (+2)
- 62220 (Belleville, Smithton): 364 (+7)
- 62221 (Belleville): 384 (+9)
- 62223 (Belleville, Swansea): 211 (+3)
- 62225 (Scott Air Force Base): 17
- 62226 (Belleville, Swansea): 454 (+9)
- 62232 (Fairview Heights, Caseyville): 96 (+3)
- 62239 (Dupo): 57 (+2)
- 62240 (Dupo): 17
- 62243 (Freeburg): 34 (+1)
- 62254 (Lebanon): 133 (+1)
- 62255 (Lenzburg): 13
- 62257 (Marissa): 24 (+1)
- 62258 (Mascoutah, Fayetteville): 75
- 62260 (Millstadt): 69 (+3)
- 62264 (New Athens): 70
- 62269 (O’Fallon): 314 (+4)
- 62285 (Smithton): 46 (+3)
MADISON COUNTY
Sunday’s new data: 53 new positives, 831 new tests administered
Total overall: 2,557 positives, 77 deaths, 43,518 tests administered, 1,145 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62001 (Kaufman, Alhambra): 9
- 62002 (Alton, East Alton, Godfrey): 364 (+14)
- 62010 (Bethalto): 96 (+3)
- 62018 (Alton, Bethalto, East Alton): 26
- 62024 (East Alton): 42
- 62025 (Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Pontoon Beach, Roxana): 362 (+1)
- 62034 (Glen Carbon): 175 (+3)
- 62035 (Godfrey): 142 (+9)
- 62040 (Granite City, Pontoon Beach): 433 (+1)
- 62048 (Edwardsville, Granite City, Roxana, Hartford): 6
- 62060 (Granite City, Madison, Venice): 79
- 62061 (Marine): 15
- 62062 (Maryville): 65
- 62067 (Moro): 17
- 62084 (Edwardsville, Wood River, Pontoon Beach, Roxana, South Roxana): 8
- 62087 (Edwardsville, Roxana, South Roxana, Hartford): 11
- 62090 (Madison, Venice): 25
- 62095 (Wood River): 69
- 62097 (Prairietown, Worden): 14 (+2)
- 62234 (Collinsville, Pontoon Beach, State Park Place): 288 (+6)
- 62249 (Highland): 108 (+7)
- 62281 (St. Jacob): 24 (+2)
- 62294 (Troy): 139
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Sunday’s new data: no new data released
Total overall: 462 positives, seven deaths, 6,439 tests administered, 422 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62217 (Baldwin): 12
- 62233 (Chester): 156 (+2)
- 62237 (Coulterville): 30 (+4)
- 62241 (Ellis Grove): 10
- 62242 (Evansville): 11
- 62272 (Willisville, Percy): 59
- 62278 (Red Bud): 64
- 62286 (Sparta): 86 (+1)
- 62288 (Steeleville): 53
CLINTON COUNTY
Sunday’s new data: no new data released
Total overall: 391 positives, 17 deaths, 303 recoveries, three hospitalizations
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62215 (Albers, Damiansville): 16 (+3)
- 62216 (Aviston): 25
- 62218 (Bartelso): 13
- 62230 (Breese): 47 (+1)
- 62231 (Carlyle): 114 (+4)
- 62245 (Germantown): 19
- 62265 (New Baden): 78
- 62293 (Trenton): 44 (+3)
- 62801 (Centralia): 111
MONROE COUNTY
Sunday’s new data: seven new positives
Total overall: 320 positives, 12 deaths
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62236 (Columbia): 143 (+3)
- 62295 (Valmeyer): 14
- 62298 (Waterloo): 140 (+2)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Sunday’s new data: no new data released
Total overall: 190 positives, four deaths, 11,361 tests administered with 83 results pending, 54 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62012 (Brighton): 44 (+2)
62014 (Bunker Hill): 13 (+1)
62033 (Gillespie): 28 (+3)
62069 (Mount Olive): 14
- 62088 (Staunton): 26 (+2)
- 62626 (Carlinville): 32
- 62640 (Girard): 7
- 62690 (Virden): 12
PERRY COUNTY
Sunday’s new data: 37 new positives, one new death, seven new recoveries
Total overall: 186 positives, two deaths, 98 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62238 (Cutler): 12
- 62274 (Pinckneyville): 86 (+26)
- 62832 (Du Quoin): 50 (+1)
- 62888 (Tamaroa): 8
JERSEY COUNTY
Sunday’s new data: no new data released
Total overall: 110 positives, two deaths, 67 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62022 (Newbern): 8
- 62037 (Grafton): 11
- 62052 (Jerseyville): 57 (+1)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Sunday’s new data: no new data released
Total overall: 63 positives, 56 recoveries, four hospitalizations
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62214 (Venedy, Addieville): 6
- 62263 (Nashville, New Minden): 21
- 62271 (Okawville): 12
- 62808 (Ashley): 9
- 62848 (Irvington): 7
BOND COUNTY
Sunday’s new data: no new data released
Total overall: 61 positives, three deaths, 2,995 tests administered, one hospitalizations
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62246 (Greenville): 41
CALHOUN COUNTY
Sunday’s new data: no new data released
Total overall: nine positives, six 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:
- Illinois: 194,080 cases, 7,636 deaths
- U.S.: 5,058,464 cases, 163,100 deaths, 1,656,864 recoveries
- World: 19,919,559 cases, 732,284 deaths, 12,143,142 recoveries
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 healthcare 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 August 9, 2020 at 5:21 PM.
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