Southwest IL health care official says COVID hospitalizations could double by December
Memorial Hospital CEO Mike McManus said Monday that if trends aren’t soon reversed in the metro-east, local hospitals could see double the amount of COVID-19 hospitalizations in December.
During St. Clair County’s daily COVID-19 update, McManus said hospitals around the region are seeing their intensive care units fill up with patients suffering from the virus. He said currently one-third of Memorial Hospital patients are COVID-19 infected.
“They take a lot of care and because the positivity rate, the number of people who are coming down with COVID, has increased and has gone up significantly in the past few weeks,” McManus said. “More people who are ending up in the hospital are ending up in the ICU and more patients are ending up needing ventilators.”
McManus said while more people are ending up with more severe cases, certain drugs have been found to decrease the length and severity of some cases.
But if things don’t change in the coming weeks, Memorial Hospital and others may have to stop accepting patient transfers. More hospitals may end elective surgeries for the time being, too, he said..
“We will be able to stretch to a point, but it still will be insufficient,” he said, adding that the entire BJC Healthcare system is preparing for the same situation.
He urged the public to follow social distancing, mask-wearing guidelines and other mitigations rigidly.
“This is very concerning,” he said. “We need to stop debating whether it works or doesn’t work. We need to all do our part by social distancing, wearing a mask and avoiding activities that will spread.”
McManus said the current COVID-19 situation is as bad as its been since the pandemic started. He said every hospital is strained now, while in May and April only certain hospitals were under pressure from the virus.
News of two vaccines with a 94% or better success rate from Pfizer and Moderna, these coming months may be the “final push” toward the end of the pandemic, he said.
“The hill for the next few weeks is very steep but if we can get past that, there’s light,” McManus said. “But we are planning for the worst based on what we’re seeing but it’s not too late to turn it around.”
St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern during the update stressed citizens to rethink celebrating Thanksgiving with individuals outside of their immediate family, as health care officials believe the holiday may cause another Halloween-like spike.
“We really worry what the spike might be after Thanksgiving,” Kern said. “We’re hoping people might be listened and deciding they’re going to keep their gatherings amongst those in their household.”
Dr. Alex Garza, leader of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, on Monday also called for residents to avoid large groups on Thanksgiving.
“This is not what any of us wanted for this holiday season but by avoiding travel and large family gatherings right now you will help prevent an even more deadly surge later on,” Garza said.
“There’s a lot of virus circulating out there right now and if you get together in a large group of people, you’re definitely increase your probability of contracting COVID and then either becoming sick and hospitalized yourself or becoming one of those asymptomatic carriers and unwittingly passing it onto more vulnerable people,” he said.
Currently, 79% of staffed, intensive care unit beds in the metro-east are in use, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Monday. Only 21% of the region’s intensive care unit capacity was open, state health officials reported, the same as Sunday’s rate.
However, 17% of the metro-east’s staffed hospital beds were available for patient use, up slightly from 15% Sunday.
Under rules set by the Restore Illinois plan, if a region reaches or falls below the 20% threshold, the state may impose tighter restrictions.
Tier 3 restrictions went into place statewide on Friday, Nov. 20. The third tier tightens restrictions on indoor dining, bars and social gatherings while adding restrictions to casinos, retailers, video gaming and museums.
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.
Several times this month, the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force has announced record hospitalization. Monday was no different.
The staffed bed hospital capacity on Monday was at 81%, an average across the task force hospitals and the ICUs were at 84% of their total staffed bed capacity.
A new record for the seven-day moving average of hospitalizations was set with 854 Monday, up from 844 on Sunday.
Also, the task force said it tied a record set for inpatient confirmed COVD-positive hospital by jumping from 830 Sunday to 881 Monday.
The task force was formed in April to coordinate the efforts of four health systems: BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health and St. Luke’s Hospital. The group’s statistics include results from BJC HealthCare’s metro-east hospitals: Alton Memorial Hospital, Memorial Hospital in Belleville and Memorial Hospital East in Shiloh.
Metro-east positivity rate falls for four days
The metro-east’s positivity rate continued to drop Monday, but the region’s hospital bed availability increased slightly.
The 7-day positivity rate for COVID-19 tests in southwestern Illinois fell Monday, marking the fourth consecutive day the rate has dropped.
The 7-day rolling average was 14.3% on Monday, down from 15.1% on Saturday. The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Nov. 20. 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 13.6% on Monday, up from 13.2% on Sunday.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Monday
This information is provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
New cases: 8,322 (-1,690)
New deaths: 47 (-29)
New tests: 91,562 (-875)
Total cases: 664,620
Total deaths: 11,552
Total tests: 9,892,981
Hospitalizations: 6,171 (+99)
People in ICU: 1,206 (+29)
People on ventilators: 635 (+46)
Statewide positivity rate (from Nov. 16-Nov. 22): 10.4% (-0.4%)
Monday’s COVID-19 breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 679
New deaths: 14 (Madison County reported 12 deaths, Randolph County reported one death and St. Clair County reported one death)
Daily positivity rate (as of Nov. 19): 13.6% (+0.4%)
Seven-day rolling average (as of Nov. 19): 14.3% (-0.8%)
Regional hospitalizations: 252
Regional patients on ventilators: 23
Hospital bed availability: 16.5%
ICU bed availability: 20.8%
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 0 (no new data)
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 0 (no new data)
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Monday’s new data: 263 new positives, 2,415 new tests administered, one new death
Total overall: 13,340 positives, 245 deaths, 144,963 tests administered, 10,994 recoveries, 106 patients hospitalized with 10 on ventilators
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 20): Daily — 13.7% (+1.3%); seven-day average — 13.7% (-0.2%)
Additional data: New positives include both males and females from below the age of 10 up into their 90s. Of the 163 new positives, 127 were individuals 40 years old or younger.
Congregate living facilities: Cambridge House of O’Fallon reported five new cases, Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported eight new cases and Integrity Healthcare reported six new cases.
ZIP codes with positives:
62059 (Brooklyn): 23 (+3)
62201 (East St. Louis): 353 (+13)
62203 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Washington Park, Caseyville): 363 (+24)
62204 (East St. Louis): 221 (+14)
62205 (East St. Louis, Alorton, Centreville): 347 (+42)
62206 (East St. Louis, Cahokia): 659 (+53)
62207 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Alorton): 359 (+28)
62208 (Fairview Heights): 682 (+66)
62220 (Belleville, Smithton): 960(+91)
62221 (Belleville): 1,246 (+147)
62223 (Belleville, Swansea): 841 (+87)
62225 (Scott Air Force Base): 69 (+5)
62226 (Belleville, Swansea): 1,415 (+157)
62232 (Fairview Heights, Caseyville): 398 (+68)
62239 (Dupo): 187 (+17)
62240 (Dupo): 70 (+1)
62243 (Freeburg): 273 (+43)
62254 (Lebanon): 433 (+44)
62255 (Lenzburg): 24 (+3)
62257 (Marissa): 100 (+18)
62258 (Mascoutah, Fayetteville):477 (+84)
62260 (Millstadt): 304 (+32)
62264 (New Athens): 144 (+11)
62269 (O’Fallon): 1,310 (+220)
62282 (St. Libory): 27 (+2)
62285 (Smithton): 271 (+37)
MADISON COUNTY
Monday’s new data: 212 new positives, one new probable, 12 new deaths, 1,554 tests administered
Total overall: 12,660 positives, 231 deaths, 135,893 tests administered, 6,010 recoveries, 119 hospitalizations with 13 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include both males and females from below the age of 10 up into their 90s. Of the 212 new positives, 132 were individuals 40 years old or younger.
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 20): Daily — 12.7% (+2.3%); seven-day average — 14.3% (-0.6%)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62001 (Kaufman, Alhambra): 91 (+23)
- 62002 (Alton, East Alton, Godfrey): 1,543 (+225)
- 62010 (Bethalto): 560 (+150)
- 62012 (Godfrey): 32 (+5)
- 62018 (Alton, Bethalto, East Alton): 117 (+25)
- 62021 (Dorsey): 29 (+8)
- 62024 (East Alton): 367 (+75)
- 62025 (Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Pontoon Beach, Roxana): 1,566 (+241)
- 62034 (Glen Carbon): 614 (+105)
- 62035 (Godfrey): 935 (+137)
- 62040 (Granite City, Pontoon Beach): 1,1,842 (+297)
- 62046 (Hamel): 38 (+10)
- 62048 (Edwardsville, Granite City, Roxana, Hartford): 55 (+10)
- 62058 (Livingston): 13 (+4)
- 62060 (Granite City, Madison, Venice): 193 (+17)
- 62061 (Marine): 84 (+18)
- 62062 (Maryville): 368 (+79)
- 62067 (Moro): 118 (+22)
- 62074 (New Douglas): 27 (+1)
- 62084 (Edwardsville, Wood River, Pontoon Beach, Roxana, South Roxana): 66 (+11)
- 62087 (Edwardsville, Roxana, South Roxana, Hartford): 56 (+11)
- 62088 (Staunton, Livingston, Williamson): 24
- 62090 (Madison, Venice): 49 (+4)
- 62095 (Wood River): 421 (+78)
- 62097 (Prairietown, Worden): 115 (+20)
- 62201: (Fairmont City, Madison): 8
- 62234 (Collinsville, Pontoon Beach, State Park Place): 1,210 (+207)
- 62249 (Highland): 906 (+131)
- 62275 (Pocahontas, Old Ripley, Jamestown): 34 (+1)
- 62281 (St. Jacob): 135 (+19)
- 62293: (St. Morgan): 20
- 62294 (Troy): 712 (+142)
CLINTON COUNTY
Monday’s new data (Nov. 21-23): 109 new positives
Total overall: 2,984 positives, 52 deaths, 2,255 recoveries, 8 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 20): Daily — 12.7% (-4.0%); seven-day average — 17.5% (-1.8%)
ZIP codes with positives:
62215 (Albers, Damiansville): 133 (+15)
62216 (Aviston): 336 (+53)
62218 (Bartelso): 131 (+17)
62230 (Breese): 643 (+91)
62231 (Carlyle): 543 (+81)
62245 (Germantown): 138 (+6)
62265 (New Baden): 259 (+33)
62293 (Trenton): 287 (+39)
62801 (Centralia): 1,216 (+125)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Monday’s new data: 35 new positives, one new death
Total overall: 2,083 positives, 27 deaths, 20,615 tests performed, 1,707 recoveries, seven patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 20): Daily — 14.4% (-4.4%); seven-day average — 13.9% (+0.6%)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62217 (Baldwin): 36 (+2)
- 62233 (Chester): 609 (+54)
- 62237 (Coulterville): 129 (+23)
- 62241 (Ellis Grove): 50 (+10)
- 62242 (Evansville): 65 (+8)
- 62272 (Percy): 132 (+19)
- 62277 (Prairie Du Rocher): 66 (+8)
- 62278 (Red Bud): 446 (+69)
- 62286 (Sparta): 335 (+37)
- 62288 (Steeleville): 235 (+25)
- 62292 (Tilden): 16
- 62297 (Walsh): 15 (+9)
- 62916 (Campbell Hill): 44 (+5)
MONROE COUNTY
Monday’s new data: 73 new positives
Total overall: 1,879 positives, 42 deaths, 18 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates as (of Nov. 20): Daily — 9.0% (-9.1%); seven-day average — 15.0% (-3.5%)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62236 (Columbia): 731 (+113)
- 62244 (Fults): 43 (+10)
- 62295 (Valmeyer): 76 (+7)
- 62298 (Waterloo): 960 (+134)
BOND COUNTY
Monday’s new data: 7 new positives
Total overall (as of Friday): 886 positives, 11 deaths, 28,784 tests administered, two patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 20): Daily —6.010.1% (-4.1%); seven-day average — 10.2% (-2.9%)
ZIP codes with positives:
62086 (Sorento): 58 (+8)
62246 (Greenville): 572 (+58)
62262 (Mulberry Grove): 95 (+9)
62275 (Pocahontas, Old Ripley): 181 (+24)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Monday’s new data: 40 new positives
Total overall (as of Friday): 596 positives, two deaths, 556 recoveries, 5 hospitalizations
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 19): Daily — 8.1% (-5.2%); seven-day average — 18.8% (-2.1%)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62214 (Venedy, Addieville): 49 (+6)
- 62263 (Nashville, New Minden): 239 (+26)
- 62268 (Oakdale): 24
- 62271 (Okawville): 85 (+10)
- 62808 (Ashley): 58 (+26)
- 62848 (Irvington): 31 (+4)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Monday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 1,916 positives, 21 deaths, 673 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 20): Daily — 14.8% (+6.5%); seven-day average — 12.9% (-0.5%)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62009 (Benld, Sawyerville, Mount Clare): 53 (+15)
- 62012 (Brighton): 298 (+51)
- 62014 (Bunker Hill): 121 (+31)
62033 (Gillespie): 260 (+31)
62063 (Medora, Summerville, Kemper, Rockbridge): 41 (+12)
62069 (Mount Olive): 112(+28)
- 62088 (Staunton): 220 (+22)
- 62626 (Carlinville): 481 (+107)
- 62640 (Girard): 101 (+22)
- 62674 (Palmyra, Barr): 29 (+7)
- 62685 (Royal Lakes, Plainview, Shipman): 80 (+22)
- 62690 (Virden): 183 (+46)
JERSEY COUNTY
Monday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 1,061 positives, 22 deaths, 723 recoveries, 11,365 tests administered
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 20): Daily — 19.6% (+1.7%); seven-day average — 14.8% (-0.6%)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62022 (Newbern): 60 (+9)
- 62028 (Elsah): 13 (+1)
- 62031 (Fieldon): 43 (+9)
- 62037 (Grafton): 112 (+16)
- 62052 (Jerseyville): 707 (+115)
PERRY COUNTY
Monday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 882 positives, 18 deaths, 625 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 20): Daily — 14.5% (+3.9%); seven-day average — 13.9% (-0.1%)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62238 (Cutler): 28 (+1)
- 62274 (Pinckneyville): 298 (+39)
- 62832 (Du Quoin): 464 (+118)
- 62888 (Tamaroa): 80 (+13)
- 62997 (Willisville): 24 (+1)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Monday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 217 positives, 142 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Nov. 20): Daily — 11.6% (-11.1%); 7-day average — 20.8% (+4.2%)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62036 (Golden Eagle): 39 (+13)
- 62047 (Hardin): 74 (+14)
Editor’s Note: The number of new COVID-19 cases for ZIP codes in each county are reported on Mondays. Information comes from county sources and the IDPH website.
State, nation, world COVID-19 statistics
Here are the latest available statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus map as of Monday afternoon:
- Illinois: 664,620 cases, 11,552 deaths, 9,892,981 tests
- U.S.: 12,219,209 cases, 256,723 deaths, 4,529,700 recoveries
- World: 58,533,531 cases, 1,386,204 deaths, 37,404,657 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are free COVID-19 testing options:
Tuesday, Nov. 24: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Southwestern Illinois College, 2500 Carlyle Ave., Belleville (drive-thru only).
Wednesday, Nov. 25: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Southwestern Illinois College, 2500 Carlyle Ave., Belleville (drive-thru only).
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 23, 2020 at 5:01 PM.