Post Thanksgiving COVID stats better than anticipated, St. Clair County official says
Metro-east residents have a few reasons to feel optimistic right now, including better-than-expected coronavirus statistics after Thanksgiving and a vaccine on the way, St. Clair County leaders said Friday.
Health officials and local leaders worried about a spike in COVID-19 diagnoses like they have seen after other holidays when people get together, potentially transmitting the virus to friends and family.
The numbers have been “a lot better than what anybody anticipated,” but the holiday season isn’t over, Herb Simmons, director of the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency, said Friday in the daily county briefing.
“Getting ready to go into Christmas, we gotta knock on wood,” Simmons said in the briefing.
The region is also preparing for the first shipments of a COVID-19 vaccine, which will become available to the general population in the coming months.
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. The percentage of tests coming back positive for COVID-19 in the metro-east decreased slightly this week, but it’s still too high for the state to consider relaxing restrictions, according to numbers Illinois officials released Friday.
The testing metric is known as the positivity rate. It gives an indication of the rate of transmission, according to state leaders.
The figure fell from an average of 15.2% positive tests over one week of testing as of Monday to 14.5% as of Tuesday. Positivity rates are delayed by three days, so Tuesday was the latest date available on Friday.
Statewide restrictions on businesses and social gatherings aimed at preventing the virus from spreading have been in place since Nov. 20. The fact that the numbers are starting to go down shows the restrictions are working, St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern said Friday.
The metro-east needs 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 to see those restrictions relaxed.
Hospitals in the region remain below the state’s 20% threshold, which was set to avoid overwhelming local health care systems amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Simmons said the metro-east could get rid of restrictions, including a ban on indoor service at bars and restaurants, sooner if more people followed public health guidance. Face masks and distance are recommended to help prevent the virus from spreading when an infected person nearby coughs, sneezes, talks or breathes.
“If we’re able to get these numbers going down like we are, a little bit at a time, if more people would take that initiative, we could really decrease those numbers and get down where we have to be, and then these mitigations will fall by the wayside,” Simmons said in the county briefing. “But we need everybody.”
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. It includes St. Clair, Madison, Clinton, Randolph, Monroe, Bond and Washington counties.
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: 9,420 (-1,681)
New deaths: 190 (-6)
New tests: 104,448 (-10,055)
Total cases: 832,951
Total deaths: 14,050
Total tests: 11,586,296
Hospitalizations: 5,141 (+3)
People in ICU: 1,081 (no change)
People on ventilators: 635 (+29)
Statewide positivity rate (from Dec. 4-10): 11.1% (-0.3%)
Friday’s COVID-19 breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 592
New deaths: 10 (As of 7 p.m., Madison County reported 6 deaths; St. Clair County reported 3 deaths; and Clinton County reported 1 death.)
Daily positivity rate (as of Tuesday): 10.4% (-8.2%)
Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Tuesday): 14.5% (-0.7%)
Regional hospitalizations: 216 (-7) (Provided by St. Clair County)
Regional patients on ventilators: 19 (-4) (Provided by St. Clair County)
Hospital bed availability: 12.9% (-1.1%)
ICU bed availability: 14.5% (-2.1%)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 94
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 6 (As of 7 p.m., Macoupin County reported 4 deaths; and Perry County reported 2 deaths.)
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 241 positives, 3 deaths, 2,136 tests administered, 224 recoveries
Total overall: 17,589 positives, 177,484 tests administered, 286 deaths, 14,921 recoveries, 94 patients hospitalized with 6 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who range in age from under 1 to 90s. Of the 241 new positives, 164 are individuals under the age of 50 and 46 are teenagers or younger.
Congregate living facilities: Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported 1 new death; and Freeburg Care Center, New Athens Home for the Aged and Willowcreek in Belleville each reported 1 new case.
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 8.8% (-9.3%); 7-day average — 14.5% (-1.3%)
MADISON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 263 positives, 6 deaths, 2,011 tests administered, 143 recoveries
Total overall: 16,868 positives, 304 deaths, 164,862 tests administered, 8,394 recoveries, 96 patients hospitalized with 13 patients on ventilators
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 9.1% (-10.2%); 7-day average — 14.2% (-0.6%)
CLINTON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 58 positives, 1 death, 82 recoveries
Total overall: 3,796 positives, 63 deaths, 3,283 recoveries, 16 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 18.1% (+5.1%); 7-day average — 13% (+0.3%)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 2,736 positives, 33 deaths, 2,407 recoveries, 3 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 19.1% (-0.9%); 7-day average — 15.7% (+0.2%)
MONROE COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 30 positives
Total overall: 2,494 positives, 53 deaths, 18 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 5.5% (-23.1%); 7-day average — 15% (-0.9%)
BOND COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 1,193 positives, 13 deaths, 33,237 tests administered
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 10.9% (-8.5%); 7-day average — 13.2% (-0.4%)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 882 positives, 5 deaths, 755 recoveries, 3 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 26% (-4.8%); 7-day average — 24.9% (-0.9%)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 38 positives, 4 deaths, 18 recoveries
Total overall: 2,867 positives, 60 deaths, 886 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 8.2% (-5.5%); 7-day average — 9.4% (-0.7%)
JERSEY COUNTY
Friday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 1,555 positives, 23 deaths, 14,969 tests administered, 1,297 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 11.7% (-9.4%); 7-day average — 14.9% (-1.5%)
PERRY COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 48 positives, 2 deaths, 18 recoveries
Total overall: 1,477 positives, 37 deaths, 1,115 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily —26.3% (+3%); 7-day average — 18.4% (-0.2%)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Friday’s new data: 8 positives, 9 recoveries
Total overall: 345 positives, 1 death, 279 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Tuesday): Daily — 31% (+25.7%); 7-day average — 14% (+2.6%)
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: 832,951 cases, 14,050 deaths, 11,586,296 tests
- U.S.: 15,721,790 cases, 293,633 deaths, 5,985,047 recoveries
- World: 69,973,636 cases, 1,589,532 deaths, 45,062,566 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:
Dec. 13: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at New Life Church, 689 Troy Scott Road, O’Fallon (drive-thru only)
Dec. 15-16: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Troy United Methodist Church, 407 Edwardsville Road, Troy
- 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. It is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
St. Clair County Health Department Executive Director Barb Hohlt said it will be a four-tent drive-thru where people can stay in their cars. It will continue to serve as a COVID testing site and will 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.
Touchette Regional Hospital and Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation also offer daily testing in Belleville and Wood River. Call 618-646-2596 for an appointment.
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 6:04 PM.
