St. Clair County officials urge residents to follow tightened COVID-19 mitigations
St. Clair County officials Tuesday urged residents to follow new COVID-19 restrictions set to go into effect Friday.
County Chairman Mark Kern said the new mitigations, which take the entire state to the third tier of COVID-19 restrictions under the Restore Illinois plan, include “well thought out” plans to stop the current surge of COVID-19 in the state. The new statewide restrictions were announced by Gov. J.B. Pritzker today at a daily COVID-19 press briefing.
“Although the mitigations are statewide, really our future is in our own hands,” Kern said during St. Clair County’s daily briefing. He noted that while all of Illinois’ regions are being moved into Tier 3 restrictions, each region can earn loosened restrictions by getting their COVID-19 case positivity rates and hospitalization numbers down.
The restrictions are set to take effect 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.
“We’ve got a ways to go to get to those lower mitigations but we can get there,” Kern said. “The secret is to wear a mask, social distance and wash your hands.”
The metro-east has seen weeks of rising new COVID-19 cases and deaths as nationwide the virus is surging. On Tuesday, Illinois reported 97 new COVID-19 deaths and 12,601 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 80% of the metro-east’s hospital beds are occupied, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health’s daily COVID-19 update.
On Tuesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported the region’s hospital bed capacity — the percentage of beds that are available in the region — fell to 20%, from 22% Monday. Meanwhile, only 27% of the region’s intensive care unit beds were available.
Under rules set by the Restore Illinois plan, if a region reaches 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 28 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.
St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons said hospitals are struggling to take care of patients. He said it’s hoped the new restrictions will lower the hospitalizations and admissions over the next few weeks.
“They are overrun with COVID patients,” Simmons said. “They may have a physical bed there but they don’t have the personnel to take care of the person who ends up there.”
In St. Louis, the Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported several hospital admission and hospitalization records for the St. Louis region were broken Tuesday. A new daily admission record was set with 144 new admissions, while a new hospitalization record was set with 838 total patients.
A new seven-day average record was set for hospital admissions as well with an average of 124 individuals being admitted a day.
Meanwhile, the 7-day positivity rate for COVID-19 tests in southwestern Illinois fell for the first time in 22 days, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The 7-day rolling average was 16.1% Tuesday, down from 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. 14. A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a 7-day period.
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.
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.
Additionally, the region reported a daily positivity rate of 12.6% on Tuesday, down from 18.8% on Monday.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Tuesday
This information is provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
New cases: 12,601 (+1,239)
New deaths: 97 (+60)
New tests: 94,205 (+3,593)
Total cases: 597,849
Total deaths: 10,875
Total tests: 9,255,658
Hospitalizations: 5,887 (+306)
People in ICU: 1,158 (+14)
People on ventilators: 545 (+31)
Statewide positivity rate (from Nov. 10-Nov. 16): 12.5% (no change)
Tuesday’s COVID-19 case breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 1,006 (Includes two days of delayed reports of test results from Madison County)
New deaths: 7 (Six deaths were reported in Madison County and St. Clair County reported one new death)
Daily positivity rate (as of Nov. 14): 12.6% (-6.2%)
Seven-day rolling average (as of Nov. 14): 16.1% (-0.2%)
Regional hospitalizations: 225
Regional patients on ventilators: 23
Hospital bed availability: 20%
ICU bed availability: 27%
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4 (some data includes Nov. 14-15): 0
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 0
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 234 new positives, one new death, 1,055 new tests administered
Total overall: 12,085 positives, 238 deaths, 136,tests administered, 9,896 recoveries, 97 patients hospitalized with 12 of those individuals on ventilators
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 14): Daily — 15.6% (+0.5%); 7-day average — 14.1% (+0.3%)
Additional data: New positives include both males and females from below the age of 10 up into their 90s. Of the 234 new positives, 108 were individuals 40 years old or younger.
Congregate living facilities: Caritas Family Solutions reported 10 new cases, Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported one new case and Morningside of Shiloh reported one new case.
MADISON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 567 confirmed positives, 43 probable positives, 1,118 new tests administered, six new deaths. (For the second day, Madison County reported delayed test results from the last two days)
Total overall: 10,928 positives, 189 deaths, 124,493 tests administered, 5,227 recoveries, 79 hospitalizations with 11 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include both males and females from below the age of 10 up into their 90s. Of the 610 new positives, 355 were individuals 40 years old or younger.
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 14): Daily — 12.1% (-7.1%); 7-day average — 16.6 (-0.5%)
CLINTON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 104 new positives
Total overall: 2,672 positives, 49 deaths, 2,020 recoveries, 7 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 14): Daily — 9.8.% (-14.4%); 7-day average — 19.5% (-0.9%)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 16 new positives
Total overall: 1,843 positives, 23 deaths, 19,623 tests performed, 1,605 recoveries, 7 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 14): Daily — 5.5% (-12.3%); 7-day average — 14.2% (no change)
MONROE COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 23 new positives
Total overall: 1,627 positives, 41 deaths, 15 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates as (of Nov. 14): Daily — 12.3% (-13.4%); 7-day average — 18.3% (-2.1%)
BOND COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 19 new positives
Total overall: 828 positives, 11 deaths, 28,255 tests administered, 1 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 14): Daily — 10.0% (-28.0%); 7-day average — 18.9% (+0.4%)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 4:30 p.m.
Total overall: 509 positives, 2 deaths, 413 recoveries, 20 hospitalizations
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 14): Daily — 16.3% (-2.2%); 7-day average — 21.2% (+0.5%)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 4:30 p.m.
Total overall: 1,659 positives, 19 deaths, 634 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 14): Daily — 19.6% (+0.2%); 7-day average — 17% (+0.6%)
JERSEY COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 4:30 p.m.
Total overall: 943 positives, 22 deaths, 692 recoveries, 10,581 tests
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 14): Daily — 5.1% (-19.5%); 7-day average — 16.1% (-1.2%)
PERRY COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 4:30 p.m.
Total overall: 798 positives, 16 deaths, 565 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 13): Daily — 14.4 (-0.3%); 7-day average — 14% (-0.3%)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 4:30 p.m.
Total overall: 193 positives, 138 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 14): Daily — 12.5% (+4.4%); 7-day average — 8.5% (-0.7%)
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 Tuesday afternoon:
- Illinois: 597,849 cases, 10875 deaths, 9,255,658 tests
- U.S.: 11,405,413 cases, 252,026 deaths, 6,956,262 recoveries
- World: 55,079,109 cases, 1,328,262 deaths, 38,317,724 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are free COVID-19 testing options:
- Tuesday, Nov. 17: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Monroe County Annex, 901 Illinois Ave., Waterloo.
- Tuesday, Nov. 17: 10 a.m. to noon and 1-3 p.m at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds, 200 S. Belt E. #2650, Belleville.
- Wednesday, Nov. 18: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Monroe County Annex, 901 Illinois Ave., Waterloo.
Thursday, Nov. 19: 2-6 p.m. at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds, 200 S. Belt E. #2650, Belleville.
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 17, 2020 at 4:57 PM.