Coronavirus rate drops again in southwest Illinois but hospital space remains low
The positivity rate for coronavirus tests in the metro-east has dropped slightly again but it still is not low enough to allow COVID-19 restrictions to be lifted, according to statistics released Saturday by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Region 4’s rolling seven-day average positivity rate was 14% on Saturday, down from from 14.5% on Friday. The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Dec. 9. A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a seven-day period.
The state classifies the metro-east as Region 4, which includes seven counties: St. Clair, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, Clinton, Bond and Washington.
The positivity rate has been on a downward trend in the past week but still has not dipped below the 12% threshold for three consecutive days for restrictions to be reduced.
Hospital bed availability in the region remains below the state’s 20% threshold, which was set to avoid overwhelming local health care systems amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The metro-east needs hospital bed availability of more than 20% and a decline in hospitalizations for seven out of 10 days for restrictions to be relaxed.
The region had 207 coronavirus patients hospitalized as of Friday, which was up from 204 on Thursday.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 87% of staffed hospital beds in the metro-east were in use as of Friday, a decrease from 87.1% on Thursday. Additionally, only 14.5% of the metro-east’s staffed ICU beds were available for patient use Friday, which was the same percentage available on Thursday.
Additionally, the region reported a daily positivity rate of 12.1% on Saturday, up from 10.4%.
The Illinois Department of Public Health provides daily updates on each region’s progress at dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics.
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.
This story was originally published December 12, 2020 at 1:13 PM.
