St. Clair County officials say ignore conspiracy theories. Do your own vaccine research
St. Clair County heath officials are encouraging people to do their own research on the forthcoming COVID-19 vaccines, while hoping people actually get vaccinated once one is available.
During Thursday’s daily briefing, St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern said he hopes to have a couple doctors on the show to discuss the safety of being vaccinated.
“I’m going to get vaccinated when it becomes available for us,” Kern said. “I think everyone here is dedicated to that. And it’s really going to be necessary — if we’re going to control the spread of COVID — that we get a good number of people vaccinated.”
St. Clair County Health Department Emergency Response Coordinator Sam Bierman said a vaccination will be available for the county’s front line health care workers “relatively soon” — the hope being next week — while for the general public in January or February or soon after.
“It depends on how quickly those manufacturers can manufacture the amounts of vaccines that we need to cover all of those first responders,” Bierman said. “And then we have a tier system that has been put together by the state and CDC that we will work our way through.”
Echoing Kern’s remarks, St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons said to avoid listening to vaccine-related conspiracy theories.
“There’s a lot of talk about the general public will want to know that the vaccine is safe. I’m glad to hear you (Kern) say people need to do their own research and not listen to all those conspiracy theories out there. Find out yourself. Talk to your personal health provider,” he said.
Additionally, Kern said a new testing site will open at the St. Clair County Public Services building, which is located next to the driver’s license facility on West Main Street in Belleville. Kern also said he hopes it will serve as a vaccination site.
“Right now, we’re working on renovations and fixing the place up so it’ll be suitable for public service. But that should be up and running in the next couple weeks. And when that happens, it’s just more services that are going to be provided, and we hope people take advantage of those,” he said.
Meanwhile, St. Clair County announced 274 new cases Thursday and three new deaths. The county now has 14,348 cases and 283 deaths since the pandemic began.
“The numbers are way too high. We have to keep on pushing to make sure people are wearing their masks and staying home if they can,” Kern said. “Get tested if in any way you feel that you need to. We need to make sure that people are getting tested so we can isolate the virus.”
Simmons noted the numbers have been fluctuating — St. Clair County had 105 fewer cases Wednesday — and expressed hope of avoiding the feared post-Thanksgiving surge.
“I’m hoping the Thanksgiving Day surge that we were waiting for, we’re getting out of the weeds of that. The next day or so we should really see that,” he said. “But then we go right into the Christmas holiday. There’s a lot of stress and worry on all of us. But we’ll get through this because Team St. Clair is strong. We’ve just got to stick together.
“We’re getting to that light at the end of the tunnel. We just need team St. Clair to hang in there and share these words.”
Metro-east hospitals remain full as positivity rate rises
The metro-east’s regional hospital and intensive care unit bed availability dropped for a third-straight day Thursday, while state officials reported 196 COVID-19 deaths across Illinois.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 86% of staffed hospital beds in the metro-east were in use as of Thursday, an increase from 84.4% on Wednesday. Additionally, only 16.6% of the metro-east’s staffed ICU beds were available for patient use Thursday, down from 18.6% on Wednesday.
This marks three days in a row of decreases after the state health department had reported increased hospital bed and ICU availability in the metro-east for four consecutive days prior to Tuesday, according to the department’s latest available data.
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, Nov. 20. The third tier tightens restrictions on indoor dining, bars and social gatherings while adding restrictions to casinos, retailers, video gaming and museums.
Region 4’s rolling seven-day average positivity rate was 15.2% on Thursday, a slight increase from 15.1% on Wednesday. The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Dec. 7. A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a seven-day period.
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 and upcoming gatherings during the December holidays 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 18.6% on Thursday, a sharp rise from 12.6% on Wednesday.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Thursday
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: 11,101 (+2,945)
New deaths: 196 (+17)
New tests: 114,503 (+21,766)
Total cases: 823,531
Total deaths: 13,861
Total tests: 11,481,848
Hospitalizations: 5,138 (-146)
People in ICU: 1,081 (-95)
People on ventilators: 606 (-41)
Statewide positivity rate (from Dec. 3-9): 9.5% (-0.1%)
Thursday’s COVID-19 breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 674 (+66)
New deaths: 10 (+3) (Madison County reported 5 new deaths; St. Clair County reported 3 new deaths; Monroe County reported 1 new death; and Randolph County reported 1 new death.)
Daily positivity rate (as of Monday): 18.6% (+6.0%)
Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Monday): 15.2% (+0.1%)
Regional hospitalizations: 223 (+20)
Regional patients on ventilators: 23 (+2)
Hospital bed availability: 14.0% (-1.6%)
ICU bed availability: 16.6% (-2.0%)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4 (includes Wednesday data from Perry County): 114 (-14)
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4 (includes Wednesday data from Perry County): 3 (-1) (Perry County reported 2 new deaths; and Macoupin County reported 1 new death.)
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 274 new positives, 3 new deaths, 2,401 new tests administered, 194 new recoveries, 15 additional patients hospitalized, 1 additional patient on a ventilator
Total overall: 17,348 positives, 175,348 tests administered, 283 deaths, 14,697 recoveries, 100 patients hospitalized with 7 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 1 up to the 90s. Of the 274 new positives, 148 were individuals under the age of 40.
Congregate living facilities: Bradford Place in Swansea reported 1 new case; Caritas Family Solutions of Belleville reported 1 new case; Caseyville Nursing & Rehab reported 1 new case; Cedar Ridge Health & Rehab of Lebanon reported 3 new cases and 2 new deaths; Integrity Healthcare of Belleville reported 5 new cases; and Mercy Rehab and Care Center in Swansea reported 7 new cases.
Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 18.1% (+5.0%); 7-day average — 15.8% (+0.4%)
MADISON COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 252 new positives, 5 new deaths, 2,054 new tests administered, 130 new recoveries, 13 additional patients hospitalized
Total overall: 16,605 positives, 298 deaths, 162,851 tests administered, 8,251 recoveries, 103 patients hospitalized with 15 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from 9 and under to up to the 90s. Of the 252 new positives, 128 were individuals under the age of 40.
Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 19.3% (+7.5%); 7-day average — 14.8% (+0.3%)
CLINTON COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 45 new positives, 65 new recoveries, 1 fewer patient hospitalized
Total overall: 3,796 positives, 62 deaths, 3,201 recoveries, 17 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 13.0% (+5.0%); 7-day average — 12.7% (-0.6%)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 62 new positives, 1 new death, 39 new recoveries, 1 fewer patient hospitalized
Total overall: 2,736 positives, 33 deaths, 25,690 tests administered, 2,407 recoveries, 3 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 20.0% (-6.3%); 7-day average — 15.5% (-0.4%)
MONROE COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 41 new positives, 1 new death, 3 fewer patients hospitalized
Total overall: 2,464 positives, 53 deaths, 19 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 28.6% (+15.6%); 7-day average — 15.9% (-0.4%) (DONE)
BOND COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: No new data
Total overall: 1,106 positives, 12 deaths, 31,569 tests administered
Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 19.4% (+10.5%); 7-day average — 13.6% (-0.7%)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: No new data
Total overall: 882 positives, 5 deaths, 755 recoveries, 3 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 30.8% (+17.7.1%); 7-day average — 25.8% (+0.9%)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 51 new positives, 10 new recoveries
Total overall: 2,829 positives, 56 deaths, 858 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 13.7% (-5.9%); 7-day average — 10.1% (-0.2%)
JERSEY COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: No new data
Total overall: 1,555 positives, 14,969 tests administered, 23 deaths, 1,297 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 21.4% (+1.6%); 7-day average — 16.4% (+0.8)
PERRY COUNTY
Thursday’s new data (includes data from Wednesday): 57 new positives, 2 new deaths, 81 new recoveries
Total overall: 1,429 positives, 35 deaths, 1,097 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily —23.3% (+10.2%); 7-day average — 18.6% (+0.1%)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Thursday’s new data: 6 new positives, 5 new recoveries
Total overall: 337 positives, 1 death, 270 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 5.3% (-7.2%); 7-day average — 11.4% (-1.8)
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 Thursday afternoon:
- Illinois: 823,531 cases, 13,861 deaths, 11,481,848 tests
- U.S.: 15,820,042 cases, 296,698 deaths, 9,226,411 recoveries
- World: 69,254,300 cases, 1,576,085 deaths, 48,009,437 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:
Saturday, Dec. 12: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Madison County Health Department at 101 E. Edwardsville Road, Wood River
Saturday, Dec. 12: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Godfrey Village Hall at 6810 Gofrey Road, Godfrey
- 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.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 5:02 PM.