SW IL positivity rates rises as state warns of tightened restrictions by Wednesday
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health told metro-east leaders to prepare for the reintroduction of tightened COVID-19 restrictions Saturday, citing projections that Sunday would be the region’s third consecutive day with a positivity rate over the state-set threshold.
St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Assistant Director Bryan Whitaker said state officials told counties Sunday’s positivity rate more than likely will be above 8% and asked them to prepare for the restrictions to go into place Wednesday.
“We do anticipate that we’ll have that third day tomorrow and we will have restrictions again in Region 4,” Whitaker said during the county’s daily COVID-19 report. “We’ve dreaded this moment, we didn’t want to come with this information but its important we come together.”
Whitaker said Chairman Mark Kern and Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons, who typically host the daily update, are working to prepare businesses who will be affected by the restrictions for another round of closures. Earlier this week, Kern said many businesses won’t be able to survive another round of restrictions.
The reintroduction of restrictions on indoor dining and bars, would be due to having a COVID-19 positivity rate above 8% for the three days in a row.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported the metro-east’s seven-day rolling average positivity rate increased from 8.1% on Friday to 8.2% on Saturday. If the region reports three consecutive days above 8%, recently eased restrictions could be reimplemented in the seven-county metro-east.
The state eased restrictions on restaurants, bars and social gatherings roughly two weeks ago on Oct. 9, after the metro-east saw its positivity rate fall below 6.5%. Since then the positivity rate has steadily increased nearly every day.
Region 4 includes St. Clair, Madison, Monroe, Bond, Washington, Clinton and Randolph counties. Region 4 also saw a jump in its daily positivity rate from 8.9% on Wednesday to 9.6% on Thursday.
The positivity rate data reported by the state is delayed by three days, so the rate as of Oct. 21 was the most recent data available Saturday.
The region’s hospital bed capacity was at 28% on Saturday, down from 31% Friday, and its ICU capacity was at 52% on Saturday, up from 51% Friday.
If the region’s hospital capacity threatens its surge capacities, meaning if the ICU capacity of hospital bed capacity falls under 20%, new restrictions could also be enacted by the state.
Statewide, Illinois set a record for new COVID-19 cases Saturday, reporting 6,161 new cases.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Saturday
This information is according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
New cases: 6,161 (+2,287)
New deaths: 63 (+32)
New tests: 83,517 (-1,261)
Total cases: 370,194
Total deaths: 9,481
Total tests: 7,196,855
Hospitalizations: 2,616 (+118)
People in ICU: 560 (+49)
People on ventilators: 222 (+25)
Statewide positivity rate from Oct. 17-23: 6.1% (+0.5%)
Saturday’s COVID-19 case breakdown for Region 4
Some individual counties had not reported new COVID-19 data as of 5 p.m.
New cases: 122
New deaths: No new deaths reported as of 1 p.m.
Daily positivity rate as of Oct. 21: 9.0% (+1.0%)
7-day rolling average as of Oct. 21: 8.2% (+0.1%)
Hospitalizations: 101 (+3)
Patients on ventilators: 9 (no change)
Hospital bed availability: 28% (-3.0%)
ICU bed availability: 52% (+1.0%)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 0
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 0
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: 65 new positives, 907 new tests administered, 40 new recoveries
Total overall: 8,827 positives, 220 deaths, 110,505 tests administered, 7,967 recoveries, 58 patients hospitalized with 3 of those patients on ventilators
Positivity rates as of Oct. 21: Daily — 8.1% (-1.3%); 7-day average — 6.6% (+0.7)
Additional data: The county’s new cases on included people under the age of 1 to people in their 80s. Of the 64 new cases, 36 were of people in their 40s or younger.
Congregate living facilities: N/A
MADISON COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: 49 new positives, 912 new tests administered
Total overall: 7,133 positives, 153 deaths, 97,008 tests administered, 3,570 recoveries, 24 patients hospitalized with 4 of those patients on a ventilator
Positivity rates as of Oct. 21: Daily — 7.7% (+1.2%); 7-day average — 7.3% (-0.8%)
Additional data: The county’s new cases on included people under the age of 10 to people in their 90s. Of the 49 new cases, 38 were of people in their 40s or younger.
CLINTON COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 5 p.m.
Total overall: 1,714 positives, 26 deaths, 1,443 recoveries, 14 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates as of Oct. 21: Daily — 12.3 (-2.8%); 7-day average — 16.2% (-0.7%)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 5 p.m.
Total overall: 1,259 positives, 15 deaths, 15,535 tests administered, 1,093 recoveries, 4 hospitalizations
Positivity rates as of Oct. 21: Daily — 12.9% (-0.9%); 7-day average — 10.8% (+1.0%)
MONROE COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: 8 new positives
Total overall: 919 positives, 27 deaths, 7 hospitalized
Positivity rates as of Oct. 21: Daily — 10.6% (+2.4%); 7-day average — 6.6% (+0.3%)
BOND COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 5 p.m.
Total overall: 494 positives, 10 deaths, 21,398 tests administered, 3 hospitalizations
Positivity rates as of Oct. 21: Daily — 13.1% (+10.2%); 7-day average — 14.8 (-1.1%)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 5 p.m.
Total overall: 300 positives, 1 death, 271 recoveries, 2 hospitalizations
Positivity rates as of Oct. 21: Daily — 15.8% (+9.9%); 7-day average — 12.6% (+2.3%)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 5 p.m.
Total overall: 819 positives, 13 deaths, 430 recoveries
Positivity rates as of Oct. 21: Daily — 4.4% (no change); 7-day average — 6.9% (-1.7%)
JERSEY COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 5 p.m.
Total overall: 476 positives, 21 deaths, 414 recoveries, 7,632 tests
Positivity rates as of Oct. 21: Daily — 13.0% (+1.20.8%); 7-day average — 9.9% (+0.2)
PERRY COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 5 p.m.
Total overall: 416 positives, 16 deaths, 362 recoveries
Positivity rates as of Oct. 21: Daily — 6.6% (+3.2%); 7-day average — 9.0% (-0.8%)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 5 p.m.
Total overall: 78 positives, 69 recoveries
Positivity rates as of Oct. 21: Daily — 0% (no change); 7-day average — 1.5% (-0.6%)
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 Saturday afternoon:
- Illinois: 370,194 cases, 9,481 deaths, 7,196,855 tests
- U.S.: 8,587,899 cases, 227,440 deaths, 5,603,130 recoveries
- World: 41,600,729 cases, 1,138,003 deaths, 30,969,715 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
These are free COVID-19 testing options in the following locations.
- Sunday, Oct. 25: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Belleville West High School, 4063 Frank Scott Parkway (drive-thru).
No appointment is necessary. Masks are required.
The Illinois Department of Public Health also offers free walk-up and drive-thru COVID-19 testing seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (or until capacity limits are met each day) at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center, Argonne Drive in East St. Louis (Interstate 64 west, exit 4A).
Capacity is limited. Hours of operation are subject to change based on available equipment. For more information, visit dph.illinois.gov/testing.
Additionally, Touchette Regional Hospital and Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation offer daily testing in Belleville and Wood River. Call 618-646-2596 for an appointment.
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:
- 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 October 24, 2020 at 1:46 PM.