Southwestern Illinois COVID-19 positivity rate reaches lowest level since early November
The metro-east’s regional COVID-19 testing positivity rate continued to fall on Tuesday, nearing a 12% threshold that could ease restrictions on the region.
Region 4’s rolling seven-day average positivity rate was 12.7% on Tuesday, down from 13% on Monday, the lowest the rate has been since Nov. 6. The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Dec. 12. A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a seven-day period.
“We’ve moved the clock back a bit and that’s really positive,” St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern said. “We’re moving in the right direction.”
For Tier 3 mitigation metrics to be relaxed or to move to Tier 2, the region must maintain a seven-day rolling average positivity rate of less than 12% for three consecutive days while also having at least 20% available intensive care unit and medical/surgical bed availability for three consecutive days.
“If we can drive these numbers down below 6% percent then we can open up our restaurants and bars again and go back to where we were in that mid-level where it wasn’t perfect but things were open,” Kern said. “It seems like the mitigations are working and helping us get there.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 85% of staffed hospital beds in the metro-east were in use as of Tuesday, down from 85.5% Monday. Additionally, 23.5% of the metro-east’s staffed hospital beds were available for patient use, up from 22% Monday.
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.
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.
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.
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 11.3% on Tuesday, down from 13% on Monday.
First vaccination administered in Illinois Tuesday
The first COVID-19 vaccinations were given to Illinois health care workers in Chicago and Peoria Tuesday morning.
Five doctors and nurses at Loretto Hospital on the west side of Chicago received the vaccine, PBS affiliate WTTW reported. In Peoria, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike witnessed the vaccination of five health care workers at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center.
“These health care workers have been working all throughout this pandemic, taking care of people on the front lines. These are our heroes,” Pritzker said.
Hospitals and health departments in the metro-east are expected to receive the first shipment of vaccines this week, but the timeline was fluid as the shipments make their way from the Illinois Strategic National Stockpile to regional hospital hubs across the state.
Additional shipments will come directly from the federal government this week for the Madison and St Clair county health departments.
Amy Yeager, public information officer and director of community health for the Madison County Health Department, said on Tuesday the county will receive a direct vaccine shipment from Pfizer later this week.
Yeager said she isn’t sure when exactly, just that it’ll be sometime this week.
“This is absolutely a hopeful step forward to get past the pandemic,” Yeager said.
Yeager added there will be vaccine receiving and distribution points across Madison County, but those won’t be disclosed for safety and security reasons.
Reporters Kelsey Landis and Garen Vartanian contributed to this story.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Tuesday
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: 7,359 (+145)
New deaths: 111 (+8)
New tests: 92,922 (+666)
Total cases: 863,477
Total deaths: 14,509
Total tests: 11,962,010
Hospitalizations: 4,965 (+14)
People in ICU: 1,057 (-13)
People on ventilators: 598 (-23)
Statewide positivity rate (from Dec. 8-14): 8.6% (-0.1)
Tuesday’s COVID-19 breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 305
New deaths: 4 (Monroe County reported two new deaths and Clinton County reported two new deaths.)
Daily positivity rate (as of Saturday): 11.3% (-2.7)
Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Saturday): 12.7% (-0.3)
Regional hospitalizations: 225 (-5) (Provided by St. Clair County)
Regional patients on ventilators: 19 (-3) (Provided by St. Clair County)
Hospital bed availability: 15.0% (+0.7)
ICU bed availability: 23.5% (+1.5)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 32
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 6 (Perry County reported six deaths)
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 199 new positives, 1,940 new tests administered,
Total overall: 18,354 positives, 185,388 tests administered, 292 deaths, 15,935 recoveries, 102 patients hospitalized with 10 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 1 up to the 90s. Of the 199 new positives, 115 were individuals under the age of 40.
Congregate living facilities: Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported one new case, Mercy Rehab and Care Center in Swansea reported seven new cases and St. Paul’s Home reported 11 new cases.
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 8.0% (-2.6); 7-day average — 11.2% (-0.8)
MADISON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 184 new positives, 6 new deaths, 1,466 new tests administered
Total overall: 17,720 positives, 327 deaths, 171,269 tests administered, 9,360 recoveries, 96 patients hospitalized with 8 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 9 up to the 90s. Of the 184 new positives, 106 were individuals under the age of 40.
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily —12.1% (-4.9); 7-day average — 13.2% (-0.2)
CLINTON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 53 new positives, two new deaths
Total overall: 3,979 positives, 70 deaths, 3,436 recoveries, 13 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 15.1% (+2.7); 7-day average — 13.2% (No change from Monday)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 25 new positives
Total overall: 2,851 positives, 33 deaths, 2,611 recoveries, 3 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 13.5% (+5.2); 7-day average — 14.1% (-0.4)
MONROE COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 28 new positives, two new deaths
Total overall: 2,629 positives, 55 deaths, 26 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 14.3% (-2.7); 7-day average — 13.4% (-0.2)
BOND COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 1,197 positives, 14 deaths, 32,210 tests administered
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 17.2% (+7.2); 7-day average — 13.7% (+1.0)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 983 positives, 8 deaths, 809 recoveries, 5 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 27.6% (-4.4); 7-day average — 22.5% (+1.0)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 2,958 positives, 63 deaths, 918 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 11.6% (+0.7); 7-day average — 10.3% (No change from Monday)
JERSEY COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 1,623 positives, 23 deaths, 15,762 tests administered, 1,418 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 6.3% (-5.6); 7-day average — 12.5% (-2.4)
PERRY COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 32 new positives, six additional deaths
Total overall: 1,5575 positives, 43 deaths, 1,272 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 17.6% (-8.9); 7-day average — 18.4% (+0.9)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 4 p.m.
Total overall: 355 positives, 1 death, 288 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 28.6% (+7.9); 7-day average — 20.3% (-0.5)
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 Tuesday afternoon:
- Illinois: 863,477 cases, 14,509 deaths, 11,962,010 tests
- U.S.: 16,741,470 cases, 306,464 deaths, 9,725,908 recoveries
- World: 72,778,115 cases, 1,621,259 deaths, 51,003,309 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:
- Tuesday, Dec. 15, and Wednesday, Dec. 16: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Troy United Methodist Church, 407 Edwardsville Road, Troy
- Sunday, Dec. 20: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. New Life in Christ Church of O’Fallon, 689 Scott Troy Rd #1907, Lebanon
- 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.
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 15, 2020 at 4:11 PM.