COVID testing positivity rate continues to climb in southwestern Illinois

With only days to go before a state-set deadline to bring the metro-east’s COVID-19 testing positivity rate below 8% or face possible new restrictions, the rate continued to rise Tuesday, remaining above 10% for the ninth straight day.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported Tuesday that the seven-county metro-east — or Region 4 as the state refers to it — has a 12.7% positivity rate, up from 12.4% on Monday. It marked the 21st-straight day the region has been above 8%.

On Oct. 28, the state re-implemented tier 1 restrictions from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan after the metro-east reported three consecutive days with an 8% positivity or higher. Currently, all 11 regions in Illinois are under tier 1 restrictions or higher.

If the positivity rate stays above 8% for the three consecutive days, additional restrictions could be imposed in the metro-east that would further restrict dining, bars and social gatherings. In order to have the restrictions lifted, the metro-east must report three consecutive days with a positivity rate of 6.5% or lower.

A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a seven-day period. Region 4 includes St. Clair, Madison, Monroe, Bond, Washington, Clinton and Randolph counties.

Additionally, the region reported a daily positivity rate of 13.5% on Tuesday, up from 13.3% on Monday.

If the positivity rate stays above 8% for the next five days, additional restrictions could be imposed in the metro-east.

Also, the region’s hospital bed capacity was at 28% on Tuesday, down from 30% on Monday, and its intensive care capacity was at 35% on Tuesday, down from 39% on Monday. If the availability of ICU beds in the region’s hospitals falls below 20%, new restrictions could also be enacted by the state.

State of Illinois announces new cases, deaths

Meanwhile, the state of Illinois announced 12,623 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday bringing the total to 511,183. The IDPH also announced 79 additional deaths, bringing the total to 10,289 since the pandemic began.

Also, within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 101,955 new tests for a total 8,571,019.

As of Monday night, 4,472 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19, up from 4,409 the previous day. Of those, 911 patients were in the ICU, up from 857 the day prior, and 399 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators, up from 376.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests from Nov. 3-9 is 12.0%, an increase from 11.4%.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 12:40 PM.