Madison County reports 13 COVID-19 deaths Thursday, bringing November total to 58
Madison County officials reported 13 COVID-19 deaths Thursday, bringing the county’s total over the past three days to 34 deaths.
In the county’s daily update on COVID-19 data, the county reported its total deaths from the virus had increased to 217. In the month of November, Madison County has reported 58 deaths from COVID-19, nearly half of which took place over the past week.
Meanwhile, the metro-east’s hospital bed availability continued to dwindle Thursday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, as the region’s COVID-19 test positivity rate hit record levels.
On Thursday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported the region’s hospital bed capacity — the percentage of staffed hospital beds available in the region — fell to 15% from 16% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, just 24% of the region’s intensive care unit beds were open, down from 25% on Wednesday.
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 30-straight days.
Also on Thursday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported that hospitalization records for the St. Louis region were once again set.
The seven-day average of hospital admissions increased from 125 to 126, which is a new record. Also, a record was set in the daily number of hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID positive tests rising from 841 Wednesday to 849 Thursday.
The task force did not release numbers on overall capacity of staffed hospital beds but said last week the system was nearing capacity.
Metro-east hospitals in the task force include Alton Memorial Hospital, Memorial Hospital in Belleville and Memorial Hospital East in Shiloh.
Over the past weeks, officials have warned about the possibility of the region running low on hospital and ICU beds, prompting some area hospitals to temporarily cease elective surgeries.
The 7-day positivity rate for COVID-19 tests in southwestern Illinois increased after two days of falling slightly. The decreases came after 22 consecutive days of increases, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The 7-day rolling average was 16.4% on Thursday, up from 16% on Wednesday. Thursday marked the highest the rate has been since the pandemic began. The previous high of 16.3% was set Friday.
The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Nov. 16 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.
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 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.
The metro-east has seen weeks of rising new COVID-19 cases and deaths as nationwide the virus is surging. On Thursday, Illinois reported 168 new COVID-19 deaths and 14,612 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
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 20.4% on Thursday, up from 15.1% on Wednesday.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Thursday
This information is provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
New cases: 14,612 (+5,690)
New deaths: 168 (+28)
New tests: 113,447 (+9,878)
Total cases: 621,383
Total deaths: 11,178
Total tests: 9,472,674
Hospitalizations: 6,037 (+84)
People in ICU: 1,192 (+46)
People on ventilators: 587 (+40)
Statewide positivity rate (from Nov. 112-Nov. 18): 12% (+0.1%)
Thursday’s COVID-19 case breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 638
New deaths: 15 (Madison County reported 13 deaths, Randolph reported one death and St. Clair County reported one death)
Daily positivity rate (as of Nov. 16): 20.4% (5.3%)
Seven-day rolling average (as of Nov. 16): 16.4% (+0.4%)
Regional hospitalizations: 237
Regional patients on ventilators: 22
Hospital bed availability: 15% (-1.0%)
ICU bed availability: 24% (-1.0%)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 30
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 1
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 140 new positives, one new death, 1,360 new tests administered
Total overall: 12,385 positives, 240 deaths, 139,324 tests administered,10,224 recoveries, 98 patients hospitalized with 12 of those individuals on ventilators
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 16): Daily — 17.4% (+3.8%); 7-day average — 14.3% (+0.2%)
Additional data: New positives include both males and females from below the age of 1 up into their 80s. Of the 140 new positives, 57 were individuals younger than 40.
Congregate living facilities: BRIA of Belleville reported one new case, Bradford Place in Swansea reported one case, Caritas Family Solutions reported one new case, Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported five new cases, Cedar Ridge of Lebanon reported two new cases, Integrity of Belleville reported four new cases and Lebanon Care Center reported one new case.
MADISON COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 279 new positives, 34 probable cases, 2,066 new tests administered, 13 new deaths
Total overall: 11,668 positives, 217 deaths, 128,050 tests administered, 5,682 recoveries, 97 hospitalizations with 10 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include both males and females from below the age of 10 up into their 90s. Of the 279 new positives, 160 were individuals younger than 40.
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 16): Daily — 20.2% (+5.4%); 7-day average — 16.7% (+0.1%)
CLINTON COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 112 new positives
Total overall: 2,784 positives, 52 deaths, 2,129 recoveries, 11 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 16): Daily — 22.5.% (+2.9%); 7-day average — 20.1% (-0.3%)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 71 new positives, one new death
Total overall: 1,935 positives, 24 deaths, 19,866 tests performed, 1,664 recoveries, 9 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 16): Daily — 16.0% (-10.5%); 7-day average — 15.4% (+0.4%)
MONROE COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 25 new positives
Total overall: 1,694 positives, 42 deaths, 15 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates as (of Nov. 16): Daily — 28.6% (+13.6%); 7-day average — 17.9% (+0.9%)
BOND COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 11 new positives
Total overall: 862 positives, 11 deaths, 28,401 tests administered, 3 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 16): Daily — 43.5% (+35.5%); 7-day average — 22.3% (+4.4%)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 536 positives, 2 deaths, 452 recoveries, 22 hospitalizations
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 16): Daily — 25.7% (-1.1%); 7-day average — 21.9% (+0.6%)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 1,835 positives, 21 deaths, 659 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 16): Daily — 12.6% (-2.2%); 7-day average — 15.8% (-1.1%)
JERSEY COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 1,001 positives, 22 deaths, 723 recoveries, 11,016 tests administered
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 16): Daily — 13.5% (-7.5%); 7-day average — 17.5% (-0.3%)
PERRY COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 30 new positives, one new death
Total overall: 882 positives, 18 deaths, 625 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 16): Daily — 14.8% (+7.0%); 7-day average — 11.6% (-0.1%)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 210 positives, 142 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 16): Daily — 36.4% (+14.2%); 7-day average — 15.2% (+2.1%)
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 Thursday afternoon:
- Illinois: 621,383 cases, 11,178 deaths, 9,472,674 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 19, 2020 at 4:26 PM.