St. Clair County officials say Christmas could bring rise in COVID-19 cases, deaths
St. Clair County officials on Wednesday asked the public to remember to wear a mask, wash their hands and practice social distancing over the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s celebrations to help avoid a COVID-19 spike.
County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons said during the daily pandemic briefing that while the county avoided a large Thanksgiving spike, Christmas and New Year’s celebrations could bring an increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths.
“We managed to get through Thanksgiving. Our numbers stayed lower than a lot of people predicted,” he said. “But now we’ve got an even bigger holiday ahead of us.”
Simmons said people need to act with “respect and compassion” over the holiday season and make the right decisions when deciding to gather for celebrations.
County Board Chairman Mark Kern said the region is on the right track to “getting back to normal,” but said the holidays could affect that trend.
“If we get below 6.5 percent, we can get back to where we were before, where we can have inside dining,” Kern said. “That’s why it’s important to wash your hands, wear a mask and watch your social distance.”
Kern asked that people order takeout for the time being and over the holidays to support struggling businesses that cannot have indoor dining due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Region 4’s rolling seven-day average positivity rate was 12.4%, down from 12.7% on Tuesday. The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Dec. 13. A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a seven-day period.
For Tier 3 mitigation metrics to be relaxed or to move to Tier 2, the region must experience a less than 12% test seven-day rolling average positivity rate for three consecutive days while also seeing 20% available intensive care unit and medical/surgical bed availability for three consecutive days.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 84.2% of staffed hospital beds in the metro-east were in use as of Wednesday, down from 85% Tuesday. Additionally, 22.6% of the metro-east’s staffed hospital beds were available for patient use, down from 23.5% Tuesday.
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 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 10.6% on Wednesday, down from 11.3% on Tuesday.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Wednesday
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: 7,123 (-236)
New deaths: 146 (+35)
New tests: 93,278 (+356)
Total cases: 870,600
Total deaths: 14,655
Total tests: 12,055,288
Hospitalizations: 4,793 (-172)
People in ICU: 1,045 (-30)
People on ventilators: 590 (-8)
Statewide positivity rate (from Dec. 9-15): 8.5% (-0.1)
Wednesday’s COVID-19 breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 542
New deaths: 4 (Washington County reported 2 deaths, St. Clair County reported 1 death and Monroe County reported 1 death)
Daily positivity rate (as of Sunday): 10.6% (-0.7)
Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Sunday): 12.4% (-0.3)
Regional hospitalizations: 224 (-1) (Provided by St. Clair County)
Regional patients on ventilators: 20 (+1) (Provided by St. Clair County)
Hospital bed availability: 15.8% (+0.8)
ICU bed availability: 22.6% (-1.1)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 32
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 6 (Perry County reported 6 deaths)
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 186 new positives, 1,253 new tests administered, 1 new death
Total overall: 18,354 positives, 185,540 tests administered, 293 deaths, 16,137 recoveries, 100 patients hospitalized with 12 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 2 new cases, Freeburg Care Center reported 2 new cases and Willowcreek in Belleville reported 1 new case.
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 9.8% (+1.8); 7-day average — 10.9% (-0.3)
MADISON COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 164 new confirmed positives, 69 new probable positives, 1,220 new tests administered
Total overall: 17,953 positives, 327 deaths, 172,489 tests administered, 9,463 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 233 new positives, 143 were individuals under the age of 40.
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily —11.7% (-0.4); 7-day average — 13.1% (-0.1)
CLINTON COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: No new data
Total overall: 3,979 positives, 70 deaths, 3,436 recoveries, 13 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 7.8% (-7.3); 7-day average — 13.3% (+0.1)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 36 new positives
Total overall: 2,887 positives, 33 deaths, 2,629 recoveries, 4 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 7.5% (-6); 7-day average — 12.2% (-1.9)
MONROE COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 38 new positives, 1new death
Total overall: 2,667 positives, 56 deaths, 20 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 17% (-2.7); 7-day average — 13.9% (+0.2)
BOND COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: No new data
Total overall: 1,197 positives, 14 deaths, 32,210 tests administered
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 8.1% (-9.1); 7-day average — 13.9% (+0.2)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data (Dec. 15-16): 49 new positives, two new deaths
Total overall: 1,031 positives, 10 deaths, 864 recoveries, 6 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 11.1% (-16.5); 7-day average — 23.1% (+0.6)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: No new data
Total overall: 2,958 positives, 63 deaths, 918 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 3.7% (-7.9); 7-day average — 8.8% (-1.5)
JERSEY COUNTY
Wednesday’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 Sunday): Daily — 20.2% (+13.9); 7-day average — 12.9% (+0.4)
PERRY COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: No new data
Total overall: 1,5575 positives, 43 deaths, 1,272 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 13.7% (-3.9); 7-day average — 18.5% (+0.1)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: No new data
Total overall: 355 positives, 1 death, 288 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 28.6% (No changes from Tuesday); 7-day average — 21.4% (+1.1)
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 Wednesday afternoon:
- Illinois: 870,600 cases, 14,655 deaths, 12,055,288 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:
- Friday, Dec. 18: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Monroe County Health Department, 901 Illinois Ave., Waterloo
- Saturday, Dec. 19: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Washington County Fairgrounds, 810 E. Holzhauer Drive, Nashville
- Saturday, Dec. 19: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Macedonia Baptist Church, 1400 E. Broadway, East St. Louis
- Sunday, Dec. 20: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at New Life in Christ Church of O’Fallon, 689 Scott Troy Road, O’Fallon
- Sunday, Dec. 20: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Madison County Health Department, 101 E. Edwardsville Road, Wood River
- Sunday, Dec 20: 4601 State St., East St. Louis (no times provided)
- 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 is 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 16, 2020 at 4:27 PM.