Southwestern Illinois region reports 26 COVID-19 deaths Monday
Metro-east officials reported 26 individuals had died of COVID-19 on Monday.
In St. Clair County, officials reported 12 new COVID-19 deaths, the highest daily total the county has seen since the pandemic began. In nearby Madison County, 10 new deaths were reported. Clinton and Randolph counties each reported two deaths.
Clinton County and Randolph county’s deaths ranged from Dec. 5-7.
St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern described the death total as “devastating,” and pleaded with the public to help stop the spread of the coronavirus by wearing a mask, washing hands and watching social distance.
“It’s devastating news,” Kern said. “It’s still a very nefarious virus, one that attacks people and makes permanent changes in many lives.
“The masks are the way that we can keep this spread from happening. We have to get through December and January when we can give out vaccines and start seeing the effect of them.”
The 12 new deaths in St. Clair County included a man in his 30s, a man in his 50s and a woman in her 70s, each with underlying health conditions; two men in their 70s, two women in their 70s, two women in their 80s, and three men in their 80s, all who had unknown health conditions.
The previous highest death total was set on April 30, when the county reported seven deaths in a single day. The county has reported a total of 275 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began.
In St. Louis, the number of people to die from COVID-19 in hospitals each day has “effectively tripled” since October, the leader of a hospital task force said Monday.
Dr. Alex Garza, commander of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, said the “dramatic uptick” in deaths follows an increase in the number of patients with COVID-19 in the hospitals, which has also tripled since October.
The task force includes four health care systems: BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health and St. Luke’s Hospital. On Nov. 13, Garza said the task force hospitals were nearing capacity.
Metro-east sees hospital, ICU availability increase
The metro-east’s COVID-19 testing positivity rate saw a slight drop Monday as regional hospital and intensive care unit bed availability also continued to improve..
Region 4’s rolling 7-day average was 15.1% on Monday, down from 15.3% on Sunday. The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Dec. 4. 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 Illinois Department of Public Health reported 82.5% of staffed hospital beds in the metro-east were in use as of Monday, down from 84% Sunday. Additionally, 20.1% of the metro-east’s staffed hospital beds were available for patient use, up from 18.6% Sunday.
The state health deparment has reported increased hospital bed and ICU availability in the metro-east for four consecutive days, 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.
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 13.6% on Monday, down from 17.5% on Sunday.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Monday
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: 8,691 (+1,093)
New deaths: 90 (+14)
New tests: 77,569 (-1,969 )
Total cases: 796,264
Total deaths: 13,343
Total tests: 11,101,214
Hospitalizations: 5,190 (-30)
People in ICU: 1,123 (+20)
People on ventilators: 648 (+5)
Statewide positivity rate (from Nov. 30–Dec. 6): 10.3%
Monday’s COVID-19 breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 663
New deaths: 26 (St. Clair County reported 12 deaths, Madison County reported 10, Randolph County reported two and Clinton County reported two.)
Daily positivity rate (as of Thursday): 13.6% (-3.9)
Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Thursday): 15.1% (-0.1)
Regional hospitalizations: 216 (-1)
Regional patients on ventilators: 21 (-3)
Hospital bed availability (as of Friday): 17.5% (+1.5)
ICU bed availability: 20.1% (+1.5)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: No new data
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: No new data
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Monday’s new data: 254 new positives, 1,170 new tests administered and 12 new deaths
Total overall: 16,684 positives, 169,735 tests administered, 275 deaths, 13,998 recoveries, 95 patients hospitalized with 5 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 10 up to the 90s. Of the 254 new positives, 161 were individuals under the age of 40.
Congregate living facilities: Cambridge House of O’Fallon reported one death, Cambridge House of Swansea reported seven new cases, Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported two new cases and three new deaths, Integrity Healthcare of Belleville reported one new death, St. Paul’s Home in Belleville reported one new death and Willowcreek in Belleville reported two new cases.
Positivity rates (as of Friday): Daily — 15% (-4.0); 7-day average — 15.3% (no change from Sunday)
ZIP codes with positives:
62059 (Brooklyn): 27 (+3)
62201 (East St. Louis): 410 (+27)
62203 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Washington Park, Caseyville): 419 (+30)
62204 (East St. Louis): 267 (+25)
62205 (East St. Louis, Alorton, Centreville): 415 (+37)
62206 (East St. Louis, Cahokia): 820 (+83)
62207 (East St. Louis, Centreville, Alorton): 404 (+26)
62208 (Fairview Heights): 947 (+81)
62220 (Belleville, Smithton): 1,124 (+85)
62221 (Belleville): 1,562 (+156)
62223 (Belleville, Swansea): 1,019 (+96)
62225 (Scott Air Force Base): 83 (+8)
62226 (Belleville, Swansea): 1,779 (+174)
62232 (Fairview Heights, Caseyville): 556 (+70)
62239 (Dupo): 247 (+31)
62240 (Dupo): 82 (+8)
62243 (Freeburg): 359 (+52)
62254 (Lebanon): 529 (+32)
62255 (Lenzburg): 42 (+8)
62257 (Marissa): 166 (+39)
62258 (Mascoutah, Fayetteville) 625 (+79)
62260 (Millstadt): 396 (+61)
62264 (New Athens): 203 (+43)
62269 (O’Fallon): 1,732 (+206)
62282 (St. Libory): 43 (+10)
62285 (Smithton): 326 (+27)
MADISON COUNTY
Monday’s new data: 226 confirmed new positives, three new probable positives, 10 new deaths, 1,636 new tests administered
Total overall: 15,944 positives, 282 deaths, 158,362 tests administered, 7,903 recoveries, 91 patients hospitalized with 16 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 9 up to the 90s. Of the 226 new positives, 138 were individuals under the age of 40.
Positivity rates (as of Friday): Daily — 13.9% (-0.4); 7-day average — 14.9% (no change from Sunday)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62040 (Granite City, Pontoon Beach): 2,236 (+243)
- 62025 (Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Pontoon Beach, Roxana): 1,945 (+208)
- 62002 (Alton, East Alton, Godfrey): 1,930 (+226)
- 62234 (Collinsville, Pontoon Beach, State Park Place): 1,587 (+218)
- 62035 (Godfrey): 1,160 (+116)
- 62249 (Highland): 1,123 (+141)
- 62294 (Troy): 915 (+116)
- 62034 (Glen Carbon): 776 (+88)
- 62010 (Bethalto): 734 (+84)
- 62095 (Wood River): 546(+63)
- 62062 (Maryville): 524 (+83)
- 62024 (East Alton): 468 (+58)
- 62060 (Granite City, Madison, Venice): 224 (+16)
- 62281 (St. Jacob): 174 (+24)
- 62018 (Alton, Bethalto, East Alton): 156 (+16)
- 62067 (Moro): 160 (+42)
- 62097 (Prairietown, Worden): 143 (+28)
- 62001 (Kaufman, Alhambra): 108 (+7)
- 62061 (Marine): 104 (+5)
- 62084 (Edwardsville, Wood River, Pontoon Beach, Roxana, South Roxana): 80 (+10)
- 62087 (Edwardsville, Roxana, South Roxana, Hartford): 76 (+14)
- 62048 (Edwardsville, Granite City, Roxana, Hartford): 73 (+14)
- 62090 (Madison, Venice): 58 (+7)
- 62046 (Hamel): 55 (+10)
- 62275 (Pocahontas, Old Ripley, Jamestown): 40 (+4)
- 62012 (Godfrey): 37 (+3)
- 62021 (Dorsey): 35 (+3)
- 62074 (New Douglas): 33 (+2)
- 62293: (St. Morgan): 21 (+1)
- 62088 (Staunton, Livingston, Williamson): 28
- 62058 (Livingston): 21 (+6)
- 62201: (Fairmont City, Madison): 9 (+1)
CLINTON COUNTY
Monday’s new data (Dec. 5-7): 92 new positives, two new deaths
Total overall: 3,649 positives, 61 deaths, 2,962 recoveries, 19 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Friday): Daily — 9.8% (-11.3); 7-day average — 13.9% (-0.5)
ZIP codes with positives:
62215 (Albers, Damiansville): 168 (+20)
62216 (Aviston): 410 (+45)
62218 (Bartelso): 150 (+12)
62230 (Breese): 771 (+56)
62231 (Carlyle): 695 (+54)
62245 (Germantown): 162 (+10)
62265 (New Baden): 318 (+26)
62293 (Trenton): 345 (+36)
62801 (Centralia): 1,626 (+157)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Monday’s new data (Dec. 6-7): 75 new positives, two new deaths
Total overall: 2,586 positives, 31 deaths, 23,539 tests administered, 2,295 recoveries, 5 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Friday): Daily — 13.7% (-3.5); 7-day average — 13.6% (-0.8)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62217 (Baldwin): 46 (+8)
- 62233 (Chester): 694 (+44)
- 62237 (Coulterville): 194 (+45)
- 62241 (Ellis Grove): 83 (+45)
- 62242 (Evansville): 84 (+8)
- 62272 (Percy): 151 (+14)
- 62277 (Prairie Du Rocher): 81 (+6)
- 62278 (Red Bud): 580 (+66)
- 62286 (Sparta): 429 (+54)
- 62288 (Steeleville): 290 (+32)
- 62292 (Tilden): 18 (+2)
- 62297 (Walsh): 29 (+4)
- 62916 (Campbell Hill): 54 (+4)
MONROE COUNTY
Monday’s new data: 16 new positives
Total overall: 2,379 positives, 49 deaths, 25 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Friday): Daily — 15.5% (-12.3); 7-day average — 15.9% (-1.3)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62236 (Columbia): 945 (+101)
- 62244 (Fults): 62 (+15)
- 62295 (Valmeyer): 83 (+6)
- 62298 (Waterloo): 1,195 (+139)
BOND COUNTY
Monday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 1,106 positives, 12 deaths, 31,569 tests administered, one patient hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Friday): Daily — 7.0% (-10.8); 7-day average — 14.1% (-0.7)
ZIP codes with positives:
62086 (Sorento): 76 (+13)
62246 (Greenville): 742 (+86)
62262 (Mulberry Grove): 138 (+23)
62275 (Pocahontas, Old Ripley): 233 (+31)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Monday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 822 positives, three deaths, 657 recoveries, 30 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Friday): Daily — 36.2% (+9.8); 7-day average — 29.1% (+1.4)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62214 (Venedy, Addieville): 71 (+11)
- 62263 (Nashville, New Minden): 336 (+60)
- 62268 (Oakdale): 29 (+6)
- 62271 (Okawville): 119 (+20)
- 62808 (Ashley): 83 (+8)
- 62848 (Irvington): 43 (+5)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Monday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 2,607 positives, 41 deaths, 811 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Friday): Daily — 6.1% (-1.4); 7-day average — 11% (-2.7)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62009 (Benld, Sawyerville, Mount Clare): 66 (+6)
- 62012 (Brighton): 434 (+62)
- 62014 (Bunker Hill): 156 (+14)
62033 (Gillespie): 289 (+14)
62063 (Medora, Summerville, Kemper, Rockbridge): 63 (+11)
62069 (Mount Olive): 138 (+10)
- 62088 (Staunton): 330 (+59)
- 62626 (Carlinville): 614 (+40)
- 62640 (Girard): 130 (+12)
- 62674 (Palmyra, Barr): 41 (+9)
- 62685 (Royal Lakes, Plainview, Shipman): 111 (+13)
- 62690 (Virden): 258 (+33)
JERSEY COUNTY
Monday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 1,384 positives, 13,589 tests administered, 22 deaths, 1,169 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Friday): Daily — 9.5% (-2.5); 7-day average — 16.1% (-0.1)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62022 (Newbern): 77 (+8)
- 62028 (Elsah): 18 (+2)
- 62031 (Fieldon): 67 (+10)
- 62037 (Grafton): 142 (+19)
- 62052 (Jerseyville): 937 (+139)
PERRY COUNTY
Monday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 1,273 positives, 32 deaths, 878 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Friday): Daily — 18.1% (-3.0); 7-day average — 19.1% (-0.8)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62238 (Cutler): 40 (+5)
- 62274 (Pinckneyville): 389 (+49)
- 62832 (Du Quoin): 624 (+88)
- 62888 (Tamaroa): 104 (+11)
- 62997 (Willisville): 30 (+3)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Monday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 298 positives, one death, 242 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Friday): Daily — 5.7% (-3.5); 7-day average — 15.0% (-5.1)
ZIP codes with positives:
- 62036 (Golden Eagle): 50 (+8)
- 62047 (Hardin): 95 (+16)
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: 796,264 cases, 13,343 deaths, 11,178,783 tests
- U.S.: 15,017,349 cases, 288,081 deaths, 8,797,632 recoveries
- World: 66,818,756 cases, 1,533,018 deaths, 42,946,246 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:
Dec. 7-10: 10 a.m. to noon at the Bond County Fairgrounds in Greenville. Enter only from the north on Ridge Road and exit to the south (Only rapid antigen testing available. Some tests will produce false negatives. Anyone who has symptoms and tests negative should have a PCR test done.)
- 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)
- Saturday, Dec. 12: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Madison County Health Department at 101 E. Edwardsville Rd., Wood River
Saturday, Dec. 12: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Godfrey Village Hall at 6810 Gofrey Rd., 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
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 December 7, 2020 at 4:06 PM.