Southwest IL COVID-19 positivity rate continues to rise daily. Now it’s near 15%
The metro-east’s COVID-19 testing positivity rate rose to nearly 15% on Friday, its highest level since the pandemic began.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported the metro-east, or Region 4 as the state refers to it, has a 14.8% testing positivity rate, up from 13.9% on Thursday. It marked the third-straight day the positivity rate surpassed 13% after having not reached that level since the pandemic began.
Additionally, it marked the 24th straight day the region has been above the 8% threshold that triggered the restrictions already imposed on the seven-county area.
Wednesday was the end of a 14-day observation period that the state health department put in place to track the region’s positivity rate. According to the state rules, more restrictions could be imminent as the region did not get its positivity rate below 8%.
St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons said based on phone calls county officials received Friday, tightened restrictions on the region are coming in the next few days.
The new restrictions would further restrict indoor dining, bars and social gatherings.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker also said this week that a statewide stay-at-home order could be on the horizon if COVID-19’s spread doesn’t slow in Illinois.
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.
On Oct. 28, the state re-implemented tier 1 restrictions from 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 subject to at least tier 1 restrictions.
Additionally, the region reported a daily positivity rate of 19.3% on Friday, up from 17.3% on Thursday.
St. Clair County Health Department Emergency Response Coordinator Sam Bierman said Halloween celebrations contributed to the current spike in cases. She warned that the coming holidays could lead to a larger spike in new COVID-19 cases and deaths.
“This is the Halloween response we’re seeing,” Bierman said. “If this is the increase from Halloween we’re seeing, what are we going to see from Thanksgiving and Christmas?”
Bierman said it’s critical families make safe decisions over the holidays, urging people to take celebrations online and avoid large gatherings.
The region’s hospital bed capacity was at 22% on Friday, the same as Thursday’s rate, and its intensive care capacity was at 37% on Friday, up from 35% on Thursday. State officials say new restrictions could result if the availability of ICU beds in the region’s hospitals falls below 20%.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Friday
This information is provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
New cases: 15,415 (+2,713)
New deaths: 27 (-16)
New tests: 106,540 (+5,923)
Total cases: 551,957
Total deaths: 10,504
Total tests: 8,871,640
Hospitalizations: 5,258 (+234)
People in ICU: 990 (+34)
People on ventilators: 488 (+50)
Statewide positivity rate (from Nov. 6-12): 13.2% (+1.2%)
Friday’s COVID-19 case breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 511
New deaths: 6 (Two deaths reported in Monroe County, three deaths reported in Madison County and St. Clair County reported one new death)
Daily positivity rate (as of Nov. 10): 19.3% (+1.0%)
Seven-day rolling average (as of Nov. 10): 14.8% (+0.9%)
Regional hospitalizations: 172
Regional patients on ventilators: 23
Hospital bed availability: 22% (no change)
ICU bed availability: 37% (+2.0%)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 15
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 0
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 208 new positives, one new death, 1,284 new tests administered
Total overall: 11,239 positives, 231 deaths, 131,262 tests administered, 9,377 recoveries, 83 patients hospitalized with 11 patients on ventilators
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 10): Daily — 13.8% (-1.2%); seven-day average — 11.9% (+0.4%)
Additional data: Individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 ranged in age from under 10 to their 90s. Of the 208 new positives, 91 individuals were younger than 40 years old.
Congregate living facilities: Brightly Senior Living reported one death, Cambridge House of O’Fallon reported one new positive, Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported seven cases and Mar-Ka Nursing and Rehab reported 12 new cases.
MADISON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 172 new positives, 1,814 new tests administered, three new deaths
Total overall: 9,391 positives, 172 deaths, 118,208 tests administered, 4,257 recoveries, 75 hospitalizations with 14 patients on ventilators
Additional data: Individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 ranged in age from under 10 to their 80s. Of the 172 new positives, 106 individuals were younger than 40 years old.
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 10): Daily — 18.1% (-0.3%); seven-day average — 15.7% (+0.9%)
CLINTON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 58 new positives
Total overall: 2,468 positives, 44 deaths, 1,916 recoveries, 15 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 10): Daily — 35.2% (+9.9%); 7-day average — 20.1% (+1.7%)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 18 new positives
Total overall: 1,722 positives, 22 deaths, 18,862 tests performed, 1,489 recoveries, 7 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 10): Daily — 16.8% (_7.5%); seven-day average — 12.5% (+1.5%)
MONROE COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 26 new positives, two new deaths
Total overall: 1,446 positives, 41 deaths, 10 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates as (of Nov. 10): Daily —24.0% (+5.6%); seven-day average — 17.8% (+0.8%)
BOND COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 29 new positives, one new death
Total overall: 769 positives, 11 deaths, 27,544 tests administered, 2 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 10): Daily — 50% (+36.0%); seven-day average — 19.2% (+3.2%)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 29 new positives
Total overall: 478 positives, 2 deaths, 401 recoveries, 1 hospitalizations
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 10): Daily — 21.9% (+1.9%); seven-day average — 18.9% (+1.3%)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 6 p.m.
Total overall: 1,458 positives, 17 deaths, 617 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 10): Daily — 14.7% (-7.1%); 7-day average — 15.3% (no change)
JERSEY COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 6 p.m.
Total overall: 837 positives, 21 deaths, 603 recoveries, 10,030 tests
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 10): Daily — 8.3 (-8.5%); seven-day average — 15.7% (-2.0%)
PERRY COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 15 new positives
Total overall: 718 positives, 16 deaths, 517 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 10): Daily — 14.4% (+2.5%); 7-day average — 20.3% (-0.3%)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 6 p.m.
Total overall: 160 positives, 128 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 10): Daily — 24.2% (+18.9%); 7-day average — 10.6 (+2.6%)
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 Friday afternoon:
- Illinois: 551,957 cases, 10,504 deaths, 8,871,640 tests
- U.S.: 10,733,210 cases, 247,580 deaths, 6,654,530 recoveries
- World: 52,776,765 cases, 1,294,170 deaths, 38,862,616 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are free COVID-19 testing options:
- Saturday, Nov. 14: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Belleville West High School, 4063 Frank Scott Parkway West, Belleville.
- Sunday, Nov. 15: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Belleville West High School, 4063 Frank Scott Parkway West, Belleville.
- Tuesday, Nov. 17: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Monroe County Annex, 901 Illinois Ave., Waterloo.
- Wednesday, Nov. 18: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Monroe County Annex, 901 Illinois Ave., Waterloo.
- Saturday, November 21st – St. Clare Church – 1411 Cross Street, O’Fallon, IL
- Sunday, November 22nd – New Life Church – 689 Scott-Troy Road, O’Fallon, IL
- Tuesday & Wednesday, November 24th & 25th – SWIC – 2500 Carlyle Avenue, Belleville, IL
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.
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.
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This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 12:53 PM.