St. Clair County reports four new deaths Friday as southwest IL ICU capacity wanes
St. Clair County officials announced four new COVID-19 deaths Friday, bringing the county’s total to 244 since the pandemic began.
Officials announced four people died from the virus, a man in his 70s, a man in his 80s, a man in his 90s and a woman in her 60s with underlying health conditions. No other information on the individuals was available.
The announcement comes a day after neighboring Madison County reported 13 deaths. Sixty people in Madison County have died from COVID-19 in November. Thirty-six of those deaths occurred in the past four days.
Meanwhile, nearly 80% of staffed, intensive care unit beds in the metro-east are in use, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Friday.
Only 22% of the region’s intensive care unit beds were open, state health officials reported, down from 24% on Thursday. Only 15% of the metro-east’s staffed hospital beds were available for patient use, the same percentage as Thursday.
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.
Tier 3 restrictions went into place statewide on Friday. The third tier tightens restrictions on indoor dining, bars and social gatherings while adding restrictions to casinos, retailers, video gaming and museums.
St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Herb Simmons encouraged businesses that are being affected by the restrictions to contact the county’s Intergovernmental Grant’s Department for aid.
“We do recognize the fact that times are tough,” Simmons said. “Reach out to them because they are there to help.”
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 fell Friday, following several days of ups and downs in the rate.
The 7-day rolling average was 16.1% on Friday, down from 16.4% on Thursday. Thursday marked the highest the rate has been since the pandemic began. The previous high of 16.3% was set last Friday.
The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Nov. 17. 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.
Additionally, the region reported a daily positivity rate of 16.4% on Friday, up from 20.4% on Thursday.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Friday
This information is provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
New cases: 13,012 (-1,600)
New deaths: 126 (-42)
New tests: 116,024 (+2,577)
Total cases: 634,395
Total deaths: 11,304
Total tests: 9,588,698
Hospitalizations: 6,111 (+74)
People in ICU: 1,196 (+4)
People on ventilators: 604 (+17)
Statewide positivity rate (from Nov. 13-Nov. 19): 11.5% (-0.5%)
Friday’s COVID-19 case breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 787
New deaths: 8 (St. Clair County reported four new deaths, Randolph County reported two deaths and Madison County reported two deaths)
Daily positivity rate (as of Nov. 17): 16.4% (-4.0%)
Seven-day rolling average (as of Nov. 17): 16.1% (+0.3%)
Regional hospitalizations: 244
Regional patients on ventilators: 17
Hospital bed availability: 15% (no change)
ICU bed availability: 22% (-20%)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 0
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 0
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 241 new positives,. 10,930 new tests administered, four new deaths
Total overall: 12,626 positives, 244 deaths, 141,254 tests administered, 10,432 recoveries, 109 patients hospitalized with 6 of those individuals on ventilators
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 17): Daily — 15.3% (-2.1%); 7-day average — 14.5% (+0.2%)
Additional data: New positives include both males and females from below the age of 1 up into their 90s. Of the 241 new positives, 110 were individuals younger than 40.
Congregate living facilities: Caseyville nursing and Rehab reported four new cases, Freeburg Care Center reported one new case, Freeburg Terrace reported one new case, Mar-Ka Nursing and Rehab reported two new cases and St. Paul’s Home reported 10 new cases.
MADISON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 329 confirmed new positives, 39 probable new positives, two new deaths, 2,553 new tests administered
Total overall: 12,306 positives, 219 deaths, 130,603 tests administered, 5,797 recoveries, 94 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 329 new positives, 212 were individuals younger than 40.
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 17): Daily — 16.2% (-4.0%); 7-day average — 16.5% (-0.2%)
CLINTON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 91 new positives
Total overall: 2,875 positives, 52 deaths, 2,171 recoveries, 16 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 17): Daily — 31.7% (+9.2%); 7-day average — 20.3% (+0.2%)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 39 new positives, two new deaths
Total overall: 1,974 positives, 26 deaths, 20,615 tests performed, 1,707 recoveries, 7 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 17): Daily — 8.2% (-7.8%); 7-day average — 13.9% (-1.5%)
MONROE COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 31 new positives
Total overall: 1,725 positives, 42 deaths, 15 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates as (of Nov. 17): Daily — 25.4% (-3.2%); 7-day average — 18.0% (+0.1%)
BOND COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 17 new positives
Total overall: 879 positives, 11 deaths, 28,007 tests administered, 2 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 17): Daily — 7.2% (-36.3%); 7-day average — 15.9% (-6.4%)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 5:30 p.m.
Total overall: 536 positives, 2 deaths, 452 recoveries, 22 hospitalizations
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 17): Daily — 13.3% (-12.4%); 7-day average — 20.9% (-1.0%)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 5:30 p.m.
Total overall: 1,916 positives, 21 deaths, 673 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 17): Daily — 13.2% (+0.6%); 7-day average — 15.5% (-0.3%)
JERSEY COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 5:30 p.m.
Total overall: 1,001 positives, 22 deaths, 723 recoveries, 11,016 tests administered
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 17): Daily — 11.2% (-2.3%); 7-day average — 16.9% (-0.6%)
PERRY COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 5:30 p.m.
Total overall: 882 positives, 18 deaths, 625 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 17): Daily — 30.3% (+15.5%); 7-day average — 13.2% (+1.6%)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 5:30 p.m.
Total overall: 210 positives, 142 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 17): Daily — 24.7% (-11.7%); 7-day average — 16.7% (+1.5%)
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: 634,395 cases, 11,304 deaths, 9,588,698 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:
Saturday, Nov. 21: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. St. Clair of Assisi Church, 1411 Cross St., O’Fallon.
Sunday, Nov. 22: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m New Life Church, 689 Scott Troy Rd #1907, 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 20, 2020 at 5:09 PM.