Southwestern Illinois hospitals ‘really becoming overburdened,’ health official says
Hospitals across the metro-east were caring for 262 coronavirus patients on Saturday, an increase of 37 admissions since Friday, according to a local health department.
The region remained below the state’s benchmark for bed availability, a threshold set to avoid overwhelming the local health care industry amid the coronavirus pandemic.
State officials say at least 20% of beds should remain open so that hospitals can reasonably handle a surge in patients.
In the metro-east, less than 20% of medical and surgical beds have been available for the past 11 days ending Nov. 27, and less than 20% of intensive care unit beds have been available for the past five days, state data shows.
The region includes St. Clair, Madison, Clinton, Randolph, Monroe, Bond and Washington counties.
A region’s hospital resources are among the metrics Illinois is using to decide whether to tighten or loosen restrictions on when and where people can gather.
“The hospitals are really becoming overburdened,” said Barb Hohlt, executive director of the St. Clair County Health Department, during the county’s daily pandemic briefing.
As Hohlt announced the hospitalization statistics for the region on Saturday, she called on residents to follow public health guidance — wearing a face mask, keeping at least 6 feet away from people outside of a household and using frequent hand-washing — to help prevent the virus from spreading.
Local health officials and elected leaders have said they are concerned that the number of infections will soon increase because of Thanksgiving gatherings.
The virus spreads when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks, sings or breathes around others, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Indoor environments without good ventilation increase the risk of spread, the CDC says.
The effect of any holiday gatherings may not become clear for weeks. In the meantime, numbers could actually appear to decrease, but experts warn that does not mean the situation is improving.
Laboratories that process coronavirus tests were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, according to Monroe County Health Department administrator John Wagner. He said in a statement on Friday that some labs are expected to remain closed through the weekend, so numbers “will not be a true indication of spread.”
Nationally, health officials said they saw an increase in the number of people getting tested before Thanksgiving as they decided whether to travel and gather, but the number dipped again as the weekend began, The Associated Press reported.
Symptoms of the virus can include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, and loss of taste or smell, but a person can be infected without showing any symptoms, according to experts.
Because someone can have the virus without knowing it, state and local officials have repeatedly encouraged people to get tested.
State leaders have placed added importance on testing by making it another key metric for decisions about restrictions.
The metric they use is the percentage of tests that are positive. The figure is known as the positivity rate. It gives an indication of the rate of transmission, according to state leaders.
The metro-east’s positivity rate increased slightly from 13.6% on Tuesday to 14.2% on Wednesday. Positivity rates are delayed by three days, so Nov. 25 was the latest date available on Saturday.
The increase announced Saturday comes after eight days of decreases in the percentage of positive test results.
Statewide restrictions on businesses and social gatherings aimed at reducing transmission have been in place since Nov. 20.
To relax those restrictions, regions of the state would need to have a positivity rate of less than 12% for three consecutive days, hospital bed availability of more than 20% and a decline in hospitalizations for seven out of 10 days.
The Illinois Department of Public Health provides daily updates on each region’s progress at dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics. The metro-east is Region 4.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Saturday
This information is provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health. The number in parentheses shows the difference from the previous day’s increase or total.
New cases: 7,873 (+299)
New deaths: 108 (+42)
New tests: 79,055 (+1,925)
Total cases: 712,936
Total deaths: 12,137
Total tests: 10,368,278
Hospitalizations: 5,775 (-54)
People in ICU: 1,211 (-4)
People on ventilators: 686 (-12)
Statewide positivity rate (from Nov. 21-Nov. 27): 10.1% (no change)
Saturday’s COVID-19 breakdown for Region 4
New cases (as of 4 p.m. Saturday): 515
New deaths (as of 4 p.m. Saturday): 2
Daily positivity rate (as of Wednesday): 15.6% (+1.4%)
Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Wednesday): 14.2% (+0.6%)
Regional hospitalizations provided by St. Clair County: 262 (+37)
Regional patients on ventilators: 33 (+9)
Hospital bed availability provided by Illinois (as of Friday): 13% (-0.4%)
ICU bed availability (as of Friday): 18.1% (+1.2%)
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: 259 positives out of 1,436 tests administered
Total overall: 14,532 positives out of 155,332 tests administered, 248 deaths, 11,997 recoveries, 92 patients hospitalized with 12 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 1 to their 90s.
Congregate living facilities: Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported 15 new cases of the virus, Sycamore Village in Swansea reported 10 new cases, Cedar Ridge of Lebanon reported one new case, and Mark-Ka Nursing and Rehab reported one new case.
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 12.3% (-1.5%); 7-day average — 13.1% (+0.3%)
MADISON COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: 226 positives out of 1,279 tests administered, 2 deaths
Total overall: 13,824 positives out of 144,352 tests administered, 251 deaths, 6,490 recoveries, 93 patients hospitalized with 21 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 1 to their 90s.
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 15.9% (+3.2%); 7-day average — 14.2% (+0.5%)
CLINTON COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: no new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall (as of Wednesday): 3,109 positives, 55 deaths, 2,390 recoveries, 13 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily —25.9% (+9.3%); 7-day average — 17.7% (+1.9%)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: no new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall (as of Friday): 2,200 positives out of 22,365 tests administered, 27 deaths, 1,960 recoveries, 7 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 11% (-7.1%); 7-day average — 13.9% (-0.1%)
MONROE COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: 30 positives
Total overall: 2,071 positives, 43 deaths, 9 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates as (of Wednesday): Daily — 19.7% (+9.2%); 7-day average — 14.6% (+0.4%)
BOND COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: no new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall (as of Wednesday): 952 positives out of 30,585 tests administered, 11 deaths, 2 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 18.4% (-3.3%); 7-day average — 12.6% (+2%)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: no new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall (as of Friday): 664 positives, 2 deaths, 539 recoveries, 6 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 26.2% (+1.9%); 7-day average — 22.9% (+0.9%)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: 32 positives
Total overall (as of Friday): 2,291 positives, 23 deaths, 759 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 6.6% (-1.4%); 7-day average — 9.6% (-1.8%)
JERSEY COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: no new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall (as of Friday): 1,209 positives out of 12,778 tests administered, 22 deaths, 985 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 7.5% (-4.8%); 7-day average — 13.2% (-0.9%)
PERRY COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: no new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall (as of Wednesday): 1,051 positives, 20 deaths, 736 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 17.2% (-12.3%); 7-day average — 17.2% (-0.1)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: no new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall (as of Tuesday): 240 positives, 1 death, 184 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 6.3% (-4.2%); 7-day average — 9.8% (-1.3%)
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 Saturday afternoon:
- Illinois: 712,936 cases, 12,137 deaths, 10,368,278 tests
- U.S.: 13,177,767 cases, 265,617 deaths, 4,947,446 recoveries
- World: 62,004,643 cases, 1,448,647 deaths, 39,641,412 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:
- Monday, Nov. 30: 4601 State St., 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 4601 State St., East St. Louis
The Illinois Department of Public Health also 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 28, 2020 at 6:09 PM.
