St. Clair County’s COVID-19 hospitalizations nearly triple in the past month

St. Clair County health officials Wednesday again expressed serious concern over increasing hospitalization numbers and the stress being placed on health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

County officials announced 111 patients are hospitalized due to the virus, up from 97 on Tuesday. Of those patients, 12 are on ventilators.

Meanwhile, for all of Region 4,243 people are hospitalized, up from 225 on Tuesday, with 23 of those patients on ventilators. The region’s hospital bed availability on Wednesday also fell below the 20% threshold set by the state, which could cause tighter restrictions to avoid the possibility of the region running out of hospital and ICU beds.

The state classifies the metro-east as Region 4, which covers seven counties: St. Clair, Madison, Monroe, Bond, Washington, Clinton and Randolph. County-by-county data is available on the state health department’s website.

St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern noted the county’s hospital rate has nearly tripled in the past month.

“I think the most shocking number ... one month ago, we had 41 people hospitalized because of COVID,” he said during Wednesday’s daily briefing. “Today, we have 111, just in our county alone, with 12 on ventilators. It’s almost tripled from just one month ago. For anyone who thinks we aren’t in crisis mode — we are.”

Kern then expressed his empathy for health care and front line workers who perhaps see others ignoring COVID-19 safety protocols.

“The health care workers I think are really stressed out,” he said. “Think about how discouraging it would be if you were a health care worker, a front line worker and you go to the store or you go out and see a local drinking establishment that’s packed with people or people not wearing masks when they’re out in public ... that would really be discouraging.

“When you leave work after a shift with 111 people in your local hospitals, 243 in the region’s hospitals, and then you go out and see people who just seem to not care. When you give so much and care so much, that has to hurt to see that people can’t wear that mask, wash their hands and watch social distance. Team St. Clair I know gets it.”

St. Clair County Health Department Emergency Response Coordinator Sam Bierman, meanwhile, shared pointed concern about the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, specifically as it relates to the post-Halloween case spike.

“As we’ve talked about, the increase of numbers we’re seeing is from Halloween,” Bierman said. “And if this is the increase for Halloween, I am terrified for what our increases are going to be for Thanksgiving and Christmas if we aren’t very careful. Making wise decisions on where we’re going to be and who we’re going to be around ... it could be very detrimental to us if we don’t have some good decisions that are made.”

Region 4 and the entire state are heading back to the third tier of COVID-19 restrictions under the Restore Illinois plan. The new statewide restrictions were announced by Gov. J.B. Pritzker this week at a daily COVID-19 press briefing.

The restrictions are set to take affect Friday at 12:01 a.m. Outside of the new restrictions, the Illinois Department of Public Health is urging people to stay at home as much as possible except for essential errands.

The metro-east has seen weeks of rising new COVID-19 cases and deaths as nationwide the virus is surging. On Wednesday, Illinois reported 140 new COVID-19 deaths and 8,922 new cases of the virus.

Here are some of the new restrictions under Tier 3:

RETAIL

• Operate at no more than 25% capacity, including general merchandise stores, “big box” stores that offer groceries and pharmacy, and convenience stores
• Grocery stores and pharmacies may operate at up to 50% capacity
• Encourage delivery or curbside pickup options wherever possible
• When in-store shopping is necessary, promote efficient trips and consistent circulation

HEALTH AND FITNESS CENTERS

• Operate at no more than 25% capacity
• No indoor group classes
• Face coverings must be worn at all times, including while engaged in individual exercise regardless of person or machine spacing
• Reservations required
• Locker room areas should be closed

INDOOR RECREATION, THEATERS, CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS

(e.g. casinos, bowling, arcades, movie theaters, museums and zoos)

• Gaming and casinos close
• Indoor recreation centers, including theaters, performing arts centers and indoor museums and amusement centers, close
• Live streaming of performances encouraged with social distancing of performers and minimum operational staff
• Outdoor activities allowed at 25% capacity or less
• Outdoor group activities limited to 10 persons or less, participants/guests must wear face coverings at all times
• Reservations required for each guest for outdoor activities

Kern encouraged people to help local restaurants by ordering takeout when they can for the foreseeable future. He said local owned businesses will have an especially hard time getting through the winter with the new restrictions.

“Hopefully we’re out of Tier 3 sooner rather than later but it’s going to be a while. These numbers have spiked and it will take some time to get them back down.”

Metro-east running out of hospital beds, officials say

Roughly 84% of the metro-east’s hospital beds are occupied, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health’s daily COVID-19 update.

On Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported the region’s hospital bed capacity — the percentage of beds available in the region — fell to 16% on Wednesday from 20% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, only 25% of the region’s intensive care unit beds were available, down from 27% on Tuesday.

Under rules set by the Restore Illinois plan, if a region reaches or falls below the 20% threshold, the state may impose tighter restrictions to avoid the possibility of the region running out of hospital and ICU beds.

That means the metro-east now has reached two prerequisites for tightened restrictions. The region was also tasked with keeping its 7-day positivity rate below 8% over a 14-day observation period. That rate has been over 8% for 29-straight days.

Over the past weeks, officials have warned about the possibility of the region running low on hospital and ICU beds, prompting area hospitals to temporarily cease elective surgeries.

In St. Louis, the Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported a new 7-day average record was set Wednesday for hospital admissions with an average of 125 individuals being admitted a day, up from the previous record of 124 individuals set Tuesday.

A new hospitalization record also was set Wednesday with 841 total patients, up from the previous record of 838 patients set Tuesday.

The task force did report a decrease in new admissions from 144 on Tuesday to 130 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the 7-day positivity rate for COVID-19 tests in southwestern Illinois fell for the second-straight day after 22 consecutive days of increases, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The 7-day rolling average was 16.0% on Wednesday, down from 16.1% on Tuesday. This comes after reaching 16.3% on Monday, the highest level since the pandemic began. The previous high of 15.3% was set Sunday.

The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Nov. 15. A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a 7-day period.

Wednesday also marked the 29th straight day the region has been above the 8% threshold that triggered the latest restrictions in the seven-county area.

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 rate or higher. Currently, all 11 regions in Illinois are under tier 1 restrictions or higher.

Additionally, the region reported a daily positivity rate of 15.1% on Wednesday, up from 12.6% on Tuesday.

Illinois reports new cases, deaths Wednesday

This information is provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

New cases: 8,922 (-3,679)

New deaths: 140 (+43)

New tests: 103,569 (+9,364)

Total cases: 606,771

Total deaths: 11,014

Total tests: 9,359,227

Hospitalizations: 5,953 (+66)

People in ICU: 1,146 (-12)

People on ventilators: 547 (+2)

Statewide positivity rate (from Nov. 10-Nov. 16): 11.9% (-0.6%)

Wednesday’s COVID-19 case breakdown for Region 4

New cases: 792 (-214) (Includes some data from Nov. 16-17; also includes three days of delayed reports of test results from Madison County):

New deaths: 20 (+13) (Madison County reported 15 new deaths — please see note above; Clinton County reported 3 new deaths; St. Clair County reported 1 new death; Monroe County reported 1 new death)

Daily positivity rate (as of Nov. 15): 15.1% (2.5%)

Seven-day rolling average (as of Nov. 15): 16.0% (-0.1%)

Regional hospitalizations: 243 (+18)

Regional patients on ventilators: 23 (no change)

Hospital bed availability: 16% (-4%)

ICU bed availability: 25% (-2%)

New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 189 (+83)

New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 2 (+1) (Perry County reported 1 death; Macoupin County reported 1 new death)

ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 160 new positives, 1 new death, 1,282 new tests administered, 141 new recoveries, 14 additional patients hospitalized

Total overall: 12,245 positives, 239 deaths, 137,964 tests administered, 10,037 recoveries, 111 patients hospitalized with 12 of those individuals on ventilators

Positivity rates (as of Nov. 15): Daily — 13.6% (-2.0%); 7-day average — 14.1% (no change)

Additional data: New positives include both males and females from below the age of 1 up into their 80s. Of the 160 new positives, 83 were individuals younger than 40.

Congregate living facilities: Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported 1 new case; Cedar Ridge Health & Rehab Center of Lebanon reported 1 new case; The Shrine in Belleville reported 1 new death; Integrity Healthcare of Belleville reported 1 new case; and Mercy Rehab and Care Center in Swansea reported 1 new case.

MADISON COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 346 confirmed positives, 115 probable positives, 15 new deaths, 1,491 new tests administered, 306 new recoveries, 23 additional patients hospitalized (For the third day, Madison County reported delayed test results from the last three days.)

Total overall: 11,389 positives, 204 deaths, 125,984 tests administered, 5,533 recoveries, 102 hospitalizations with 11 patients on ventilators

Additional data: New positives include both males and females from below the age of 10 up into their 100s. Of the 461 new positives, 170 were individuals younger than 40.

Positivity rates (as of Nov. 15): Daily — 14.8% (+2.7%); 7-day average — 16.6 (no change)

CLINTON COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 55 new positives, 3 new deaths, 63 new recoveries, 1 additional patient hospitalized

Total overall: 2,672 positives, 52 deaths, 2,083 recoveries, 8 patients hospitalized

Positivity rates (as of Nov. 15): Daily — 19.6.% (+9.8%); 7-day average — 20.4% (+0.9%)

RANDOLPH COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 21 new positives, 243 new tests administered, 18 new recoveries, 2 additional patients hospitalized

Total overall: 1,864 positives, 23 deaths, 19,866 tests performed, 1,623 recoveries, 9 patients hospitalized

Positivity rates (as of Nov. 15): Daily — 26.5% (+21.0%); 7-day average — 15.0% (+0.8%)

MONROE COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 42 new positives, 1 new death, 1 fewer patient hospitalized

Total overall: 1,669 positives, 42 deaths, 14 patients hospitalized

Positivity rates as (of Nov. 15): Daily — 15.0% (+2.7%); 7-day average — 17.0% (-1.3%)

BOND COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 23 new positives, 146 new tests administered, 2 additional patients hospitalized

Total overall: 851 positives, 11 deaths, 28,401 tests administered, 3 patients hospitalized

Positivity rates (as of Nov. 15): Daily — 8.0% (-2.0%); 7-day average — 17.9% (-1.0%)

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data (Nov. 16-18): 30 new positives, 42 new recoveries, 2 additional patients hospitalizations

Total overall: 536 positives, 2 deaths, 452 recoveries, 22 hospitalizations

Positivity rates (as of Nov. 15): Daily — 26.8% (+10.5%); 7-day average — 21.3% (+0.1%)

MACOUPIN COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 106 new positives, 1 new death, 12 new recoveries

Total overall: 1,835 positives, 21 deaths, 659 recoveries

Positivity rates (as of Nov. 15): Daily — 14.8% 1 (-4.8%); 7-day average — 16.9% (-0.1%)

JERSEY COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 36 new positives, 31 new recoveries, 331 new tests administered

Total overall: 1,001 positives, 22 deaths, 723 recoveries, 11,016 tests administered

Positivity rates (as of Nov. 15): Daily — 21.0% (+15.9%); 7-day average — 17.8% (+1.7%)

PERRY COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 40 new positives, 1 new death, 14 new recoveries

Total overall: 852 positives, 17 deaths, 605 recoveries

Positivity rates (as of Nov. 15): Daily — 7.8% (-6.6%); 7-day average — 11.5% (-2.5%)

CALHOUN COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 7 new positives, 4 new recoveries

Total overall: 210 positives, 142 recoveries

Positivity rates (as of Nov. 15): Daily — 22.2% (+9.7%); 7-day average — 13.1% (+4.6%)

Editor’s Note: The zip codes for each county are reported every Monday and show how many new cases have been reported since the previous Monday. These numbers are according to some counties and IDPH’s website.

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 Wednesday afternoon:

• Illinois: 606,771 cases, 11,014 deaths, 9,359,227 tests
  
  
• U.S.: 11,699,233 cases, 254,329 deaths, 7,090,336 recoveries
• World: 56,115,939 cases, 1,346,735 deaths, 39,105,246 recoveries

Testing sites in southwestern Illinois

Here are free COVID-19 testing options:

• Thursday, Nov. 19: 2-6 p.m. at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds, 200 S. Belt E. #2650, Belleville.

• Saturday, Nov. 21: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. St. Clair of Assisi Church, 1411 Cross St., O’Fallon.

Additionally, the Illinois Department of Public Health 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.

This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 5:00 PM.