Southwestern Illinois counties report over 100 new coronavirus cases, 1 more death
Metro-east officials recorded over 100 new COVID-19 diagnoses and one more death from the disease on Tuesday.
COVID-19 is the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Madison County reported the latest death.
A resident in her 70s died, the Madison County Health Department said Tuesday.
Most of the metro-east’s new diagnoses were residents from St. Clair and Madison counties, with 77 and 49 new positive test results respectively.
The majority of those newly diagnosed with COVID-19 in St. Clair County were in their teens to their 40s — 56 of the 77 new positives. Another six of them were people who live or work at long-term care centers.
The latest care center cases were from BRIA of Belleville, the St. John Bosco Center in Belleville and Parkway Gardens in Fairview Heights, according to the health department.
Parkway Gardens was reporting its first outbreak of the pandemic on Tuesday with four cases.
Most of Madison County’s newly diagnosed residents were also in their 40s or younger — 31 of the 49 new positives. The health department said none of the new cases of the virus in Madison County were related to outbreaks at long-term care centers.
Elsewhere in the metro-east, there were four new positives in Clinton County, three in Monroe County and one in Washington County, for a total increase of 134 cases Tuesday in the region.
State leaders define the Metro East region as St. Clair, Madison, Clinton, Randolph, Monroe, Washington and Bond counties.
Randolph and Bond counties did not provide updates Tuesday.
The seven counties have recorded combined daily totals of over 100 new cases of the virus for all but two days since July 13.
In Southern Illinois, a separate region, Perry County announced two new diagnoses and another death Tuesday. The health department said the latest death was from a long-term care center.
No other details were released about the Perry County resident who died.
Perry County has recorded a total of three deaths throughout the pandemic, and two of them were in the last two days.
Farther north, in the state’s West Central region, there were 21 new positives in Macoupin County, four in Jersey County and one in Calhoun County.
The Illinois Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 statistics website recorded 1,549 new cases and 20 deaths statewide Tuesday. Each afternoon, the state agency publishes what has been entered into Illinois’ National Electronic Disease Surveillance System.
“The data is constantly being entered and may change as cases are investigated,” the Department of Public Health states on its website. “Therefore, numbers may vary from other sites where data is published” such as local health department websites or social media, where updates are posted later.
The Macoupin County Health Department said in a public statement this week that numbers from the state have been delayed by as much as two weeks.
“We have found with the volume that IDPH is trying to update, they are approximately 1-2 weeks behind in updating their numbers,” the health department stated. “Therefore, we found it necessary to manually count our own numbers to give an accurate real time picture.”
Threshold for state-imposed COVID restrictions
As of Saturday, the latest date information was available, an average of 7.4% 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.
One of the state’s benchmarks for bringing back restrictions on businesses and activities in a region 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. At its highest, the metro-east’s rate was more than double the statewide average.
County and city leaders have been sharing the state’s safety guidelines on their websites, on social media and in letters to business owners in recent weeks as the number of diagnoses climbed in the region. They sought compliance with the rules, which call for face masks in most public places, at least 6 feet of distance between people and no more than 50 people in a crowd.
On Friday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration filed a proposed emergency rule that would give local authorities more power to enforce the state mask mandate at schools, businesses and childcare facilities. The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, a group of legislators, upheld the rule Tuesday.
Some city leaders said last week they were 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.
Testing efforts have been ramping up in the region recently, with one-day testing sites available this week across St. Clair and Madison counties.
St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern said Tuesday during the county’s daily COVID-19 briefing that the metro-east’s state legislators sent a letter to the Department of Public Health requesting even more testing sites and equipment for the region.
Southwestern Illinois COVID-19 statistics
The following are the latest available statistics by county. ZIP code-level numbers are provided by the state each afternoon at dph.illinois.gov/covid19/covid19-statistics. Madison County compiles its own ZIP code statistics from the state reporting system later in the day, so the numbers may differ from what appears on the Illinois Department of Public Health’s website. The Belleville News-Democrat reports the information Madison County provides. ZIP codes with fewer than five cases of the virus are not reported by health officials. The number in parentheses after each ZIP code below reflects the change from the previous day’s cumulative 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 the required isolation period in most counties:
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 77 new positives, 893 new tests administered, 63 new recoveries
Total overall: 4,518 positives, 158 deaths, 45,683 tests administered, 3,435 recoveries, 41 hospitalizations
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62059 (Brooklyn): 10
- 62201 (East St. Louis): 192 (+2)
- 62203 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Washington Park, Caseyville): 163 (+2)
- 62204 (East St. Louis): 121
- 62205 (East St. Louis, Alorton, Centreville): 166 (+5)
- 62206 (East St. Louis, Cahokia): 362 (+4)
- 62207 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Alorton): 211 (+1)
- 62208 (Fairview Heights): 289 (+6)
- 62220 (Belleville, Smithton): 369 (+4)
- 62221 (Belleville): 406 (+13)
- 62223 (Belleville, Swansea): 221 (+8)
- 62225 (Scott Air Force Base): 18 (+1)
- 62226 (Belleville, Swansea): 470 (+11)
- 62232 (Fairview Heights, Caseyville): 96 (+1)
- 62239 (Dupo): 55
- 62240 (Dupo): 17
- 62243 (Freeburg): 34
- 62254 (Lebanon): 133 (+1)
- 62255 (Lenzburg): 13
- 62257 (Marissa): 25 (+1)
- 62258 (Mascoutah, Fayetteville): 76 (+1)
- 62260 (Millstadt): 70 (+1)
- 62264 (New Athens): 71 (+1)
- 62269 (O’Fallon): 329 (+12)
- 62285 (Smithton): 45 (+2)
MADISON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 49 new positives, one new death, 678 new tests administered, six new recoveries
Total overall: 2,657 positives, 78 deaths, 44,381 tests administered, 1,157 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62001 (Kaufman, Alhambra): 9
- 62002 (Alton, East Alton, Godfrey): 376 (+7)
- 62010 (Bethalto): 103 (+5)
- 62018 (Alton, Bethalto, East Alton): 26
- 62024 (East Alton): 44 (+1)
- 62025 (Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Pontoon Beach, Roxana): 375 (+9)
- 62034 (Glen Carbon): 176
- 62035 (Godfrey): 148 (+2)
- 62040 (Granite City, Pontoon Beach): 446 (+6)
- 62048 (Edwardsville, Granite City, Roxana, Hartford): 6
- 62060 (Granite City, Madison, Venice): 80 (+1)
- 62061 (Marine): 15
- 62062 (Maryville): 65
- 62067 (Moro): 21 (+4)
- 62084 (Edwardsville, Wood River, Pontoon Beach, Roxana, South Roxana): 8
- 62087 (Edwardsville, Roxana, South Roxana, Hartford): 11
- 62090 (Madison, Venice): 27
- 62095 (Wood River): 72 (+2)
- 62097 (Prairietown, Worden): 14
- 62234 (Collinsville, Pontoon Beach, State Park Place): 305 (+9)
- 62249 (Highland): 130 (+2)
- 62281 (St. Jacob): 26 (-1)
- 62294 (Troy): 143 (+1)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: no new data released
Total overall: 480 positives, seven deaths, 431 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62217 (Baldwin): 12
- 62233 (Chester): 159
- 62237 (Coulterville): 33 (+1)
- 62241 (Ellis Grove): 10
- 62242 (Evansville): 11
- 62272 (Willisville, Percy): 59
- 62278 (Red Bud): 66
- 62286 (Sparta): 87 (+1)
- 62288 (Steeleville): 53
CLINTON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: four new positives
Total overall: 419 positives, 17 deaths, 315 recoveries, three hospitalizations
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62215 (Albers, Damiansville): 16
- 62216 (Aviston): 25
- 62218 (Bartelso): 15 (+1)
- 62230 (Breese): 47
- 62231 (Carlyle): 117 (+2)
- 62245 (Germantown): 20
- 62265 (New Baden): 78
- 62293 (Trenton): 46 (+1)
- 62801 (Centralia): 116 (+3)
MONROE COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: three new positives
Total overall: 327 positives, 12 deaths
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62236 (Columbia): 146 (+3)
- 62295 (Valmeyer): 14
- 62298 (Waterloo): 143 (+2)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 21 new positives
Total overall: 215 positives, four deaths, 11,798 tests administered with 130 results pending, 54 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62012 (Brighton): 45 (+1)
62014 (Bunker Hill): 13
62033 (Gillespie): 28
62069 (Mount Olive): 14
- 62088 (Staunton): 28 (+1)
- 62626 (Carlinville): 32
- 62640 (Girard): 7
- 62690 (Virden): 12
PERRY COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: two new positives, one new death
Total overall: 188 positives, three deaths, 98 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62238 (Cutler): 12
- 62274 (Pinckneyville): 87 (+1)
- 62832 (Du Quoin): 50
- 62888 (Tamaroa): 8
JERSEY COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: four new positives
Total overall: 120 positives, two deaths, 82 recoveries
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62022 (Newbern): 9 (+1)
- 62037 (Grafton): 12
- 62052 (Jerseyville): 66 (+1)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: one new positive
Total overall: 68 positives, 62 recoveries, four hospitalizations
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62214 (Venedy, Addieville): 7
- 62263 (Nashville, New Minden): 21
- 62271 (Okawville): 12
- 62808 (Ashley): 9
- 62848 (Irvington): 7
BOND COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: no new data released
Total overall: 65 positives, three deaths, 3,232 tests administered, one hospitalization
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62246 (Greenville): 42
- 62275 (Pocahontas): 15
CALHOUN COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: one new positive
Total overall: 10 positives, nine 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 Tuesday afternoon:
- Illinois: 196,948 cases, 7,657 deaths
- U.S.: 5,102,837 cases, 163,681 deaths, 1,670,755 recoveries
- World: 20,138,860 cases, 737,520 deaths, 12,385,787 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 11, 2020 at 4:53 PM.
