St. Clair, Madison counties report 577 new COVID-19 cases, as positivity rate rises
St. Clair County reported 286 new cases of COVID-19 and two new deaths Friday, while Madison County reported 291 new cases and two new deaths.
The two counties now have reported 31,216 coronavirus cases and 527 deaths since the pandemic began. St. Clair County has 15,964 cases and 262 deaths, while Madison County has 15,252 cases and 265 deaths.
“Two more deaths in our county — 262 deaths out of 266 days that we’ve been doing this; 148 statewide deaths today is just way too many, “ St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons said. “ We keep telling you every day now about the vaccine coming. So hopefully that light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little brighter. We’ve been telling Team St. Clair to hang in there, that help is on the way.”
Friday’s case total also marked the 13th time since Nov. 20 that St. Clair County has reported at least 200 new daily cases. Additionally, the 286 new cases is the third-highest daily total for the county since the onset of the pandemic. Madison County, meanwhile, has reported at least 200 new daily cases 10 times since Nov. 22.
St. Clair County did see its virus-related hospitalizations drop from 99 on Thursday to 90 on Friday, while Madison County’s hospitalizations dropped from 85 on Thursday to 77 on Friday.
However, in St. Clair County, the number of people on ventilators rose from nine on Thursday to 11 on Friday, while in Madison County the number rose from 14 on Thursday to 15 on Friday.
“The numbers are still going up. The hospitalizations are down a little bit but the ventilators are up. We gain on one hand and lose on the other,” Simmons said, speaking specifically of St. Clair County.
Additional St. Clair County notes from this week
Health Department Executive Director Barb Hohlt noted Wednesday that St. Clair County front line workers could have access to a vaccine by mid-December and that the general population could have access to the vaccine by February or March.
Meanwhile, St. Clair County announced Thursday it has suspended liquor licenses at two bars after warnings about violating COVID-19 restrictions.
H’s Bar on Dutch Hollow Road, near Belleville, and George’s Pub on Front Street, East Carondelet, both had their liquor licenses suspended effective Dec. 3, 2020, until Dec. 31, 2020. Both establishments also were fined $1,000, according to the orders issued by Mark Kern, St. Clair County’s local liquor commissioner, who is also the county board chairman.
Metro-east positivity rate rises slightly as hospitals fill
The metro-east’s positivity rate increased slightly Friday.
Region 4’s rolling seven-day average was 14.4%, up from 14.1% on Thursday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported. The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Dec. 1. A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a seven-day period.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 86.5% of staffed hospital beds in the metro-east were in use as of Friday, up from 86.3% on Thursday. Additionally, 17.7% of the metro-east’s ICU beds were available for patient use Friday, up from 16.2% on Thursday.
Under rules set by the Restore Illinois plan, if a region falls below the 20% threshold of clinically staffed hospital beds, the state may impose tighter restrictions. Thursday’s figures marked the region’s 12th consecutive day under the 20% threshold for hospital bed availability and the 11th consecutive day under that threshold for ICU bed availability.
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. More recently, officials have publicly worried that the Thanksgiving holiday could lead to another spike in cases and deaths.
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 16.1% on Friday, down from 17.5% on Thursday.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Friday
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: 10,526 (-433)
New deaths: 148 (-44)
New tests: 112,634 (+5,856)
Total cases: 770,088
Total deaths: 12,974
Total tests: 10,918,998
Hospitalizations: 5,453 (-200)
People in ICU: 1,153 (-17)
People on ventilators: 703 (+10)
Statewide positivity rate (from Nov. 27–Dec. 3): 10.3% (-0.1%)
Friday’s COVID-19 breakdown for Region 4
New cases (includes data from Thursday for Washington County): 806 (+192)
New deaths (includes data from Thursday for Washington County): 7 (+1) (St. Clair County reported 2 new deaths; Madison County reported 2 new deaths; Randolph County reported 2 new deaths; Washington County reported 1 new death)
Daily positivity rate (as of Tuesday): 16.1% (-1.4%)
Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Tuesday): 14.4% (+0.3)
Regional hospitalizations: 199 (-30)
Regional patients on ventilators: 26 (+3)
Hospital bed availability: 13.5% (-0.2%)
ICU bed availability: 17.7% (+1.5%)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 79 (-65)
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 1 (-6)
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 286 new positives, 1,930 new tests administered, 290 new recoveries, 9 fewer patients hospitalized, 2 additional patients on ventilators
Total overall: 15,964 positives, 164,991 tests administered, 262 deaths, 13,370 recoveries, 90 patients hospitalized with 11 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 10 up to the 90s. Of the 286 new positives, 156 were individuals under the age of 40.
Congregate living facilities: Brightly Senior Living in Mascoutah reported 1 new case; Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported 4 new cases and 1 new death; Cedar Ridge Health & Rehab Center of Lebanon reported 1 new case; Integrity Healthcare or Smithton reported 1 new case; Lebanon Terrace reported 11 new cases; Mar-Ka Nursing & Rehabilitation in Mascoutah reported 1 new case; New Athens Home for the Aged reported 3 new cases; and Sycamore Village Assisted Living of Swansea reported 2 new cases.
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 19.0% (+3.5%); 7-day average — 14.2% (+0.5%)
MADISON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 291 new positives, 2 new deaths, 2,015 new tests administered, 189 new recoveries, 8 fewer patients hospitalized, 1 additional patient on a ventilator
Total overall: 15,252 positives, 265 deaths, 153,072 tests administered, 7,571 recoveries, 77 patients hospitalized with 15 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 10 up to the 100s. Of the 291 new positives, 159 were individuals under the age of 40.
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 14.7% (-1.7%); 7-day average — 13.7% (+0.3%)
CLINTON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 66 new positives, 74 new recoveries, 5 additional patients hospitalized
Total overall: 3,557 positives, 59 deaths, 2,851 recoveries, 24 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 16.1% (-2.3%); 7-day average — 15.9% (-0.1%)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 24 new positives, 2 new deaths, 77 new recoveries, 2 fewer patients hospitalized
Total overall: 2,483 positives, 29 deaths, 23,539 tests administered, 2,220 recoveries, 4 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 17.5% (-6.6%); 7-day average — 14.2% (no change)
MONROE COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 53 new positives
Total overall: 2,261 positives, 49 deaths, 20 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 7.6% (-17.9%); 7-day average — 15.9% (-0.4%)
BOND COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 14 new positives, 235 new tests administered, 2 fewer patients hospitalized
Total overall: 1,106 positives, 12 deaths, 31,569 tests administered, 1 patient hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 14.2 (-11.2%); 7-day average — 12.5% (-1.4%)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Friday’s new data (includes data from Thursday): 72 new positives, 1 new death, 30 new recoveries
Total overall: 822 positives, 3 deaths, 657 recoveries, 30 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 31.2% (+11.2%); 7-day average — 27.5% (-1.1%)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 40 new positives, 1 new death, 12 new recoveries
Total overall: 2,607 positives, 41 deaths, 811 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 12.3% (-4.4%); 7-day average — 12.8% (+1.5%)
JERSEY COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data
Total overall: 1,384 positives, 13,589 tests administered, 22 deaths, 1,169 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 22.2% (+8.1%); 7-day average — 15.8% (+1.9%)
PERRY COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 35 new positives, 26 new recoveries
Total overall: 1,273 positives, 32 deaths, 878 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 25.7% (+2.5%); 7-day average — 17.1% (-0.4)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 4 new positives, 12 new recoveries
Total overall: 298 positives, 1 death, 242 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 13.3% (-5.5%); 7-day average — 17.3% (-0.6%)
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 Friday afternoon:
- Illinois: 770,088 cases, 12,974 deaths, 10,918,998 tests
- U.S.: 14,535,196 cases, 282,829 deaths, 8,561,427 recoveries (UPDATED)
- World: 65,560,680 cases, 1,512,255 deaths, 45,395,734 recoveries (UPDATED)
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:
- Tuesday, Dec 8: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at McKendree University in front of The HETT, 400 N. Alton St., Lebanon (drive-thru only)
- Wednesday, Dec 9: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at McKendree University in front of The HETT, 400 N. Alton St., Lebanon (drive-thru only)
- Sunday, Dec. 13: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at New Life Church, 689 Troy Scott Road, O’Fallon (drive-thru only)
- Every Tuesday and Thursday: 9-11 a.m. COVID-19 rapid testing at the Clinton County Fairgrounds, 1899 Methodist St., Carlyle
In addition, the testing site at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis has been moved to the St. Clair Square Mall behind Dillards, still from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
St. Clair County Health Department Executive Director Barb Hohlt said it will be a 4-tent drive thru to where people can stay in their car. It will continue to serve as a COVID testing site and also be a vaccine site once that’s available to the general public, she said.
The Illinois Department of Public Health will continue to deploy mobile testing teams to locations in East St. Louis, including to 4601 State St., from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Sunday and Monday.
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.