Doctors at St. Clair County briefing urge people to avoid large New Year’s Eve gatherings

The St. Clair County daily COVID-19 daily briefing had two special guests Wednesday.

HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Emergency Room Medical Director Dr. Jeff Shafer and Hospitalist Medical Director Dr. Payton McGowen discussed getting vaccinated, avoiding large gatherings on New Year’s Eve and the stress being placed on hospitals, as evidenced by St. Clair County reporting the highest number of hospitalizations - 122 - since the pandemic began.

“We’re definitely trending up the last few weeks. I think a lot of it has to do with people getting together during the holidays,” McGowen said. “We’re urging you to stay home, minimize get-togethers on the holidays. If you can just stay home and celebrate this year at home with your immediate family and not go to large gatherings ... we really don’t want to see this continue to rise. We would really like for everything to start trending down again.”

Shafer echoed McGowen’s remarks.

“We’re really optimistic with the vaccine being right around the corner for the general public to put an end to this pandemic,” he said. “But now is not the time for large gatherings. Keep your circle small and stay well so that you can get the vaccine just as soon as possible and we can all return to a sense of normalcy.”

Shafer also discussed how the virus affects the younger population. As an example, of St. Clair County’s 213 new cases Wednesday — an increase from 99 on Tuesday — 103 were under the age of 40.

“While it is true that the vast majority of the patients that have a bad outcome are older, that is definitely not exclusive,” he said. “We do see young, healthy patients come in with devastating illness. Even the ones that are not critically ill can be left with debilitating symptoms for weeks.

“You’re (being) out of work for a month or better is not uncommon at all. Then of course you have to worry about your loved ones that you would inadvertently give the virus to that might not be in the best of health.”

McGowen also has noticed more young people contracting the vaccine, both as patients and in her personal life.

“We’re seeing patients of all ages now,” she said. “In the beginning I think the elderly were more susceptible so those were people we saw more of. But now it’s getting into more young and healthy people. I see it in my patients and my personal life as well. As promising as the vaccine is, we can’t help the people who have already been affected.”

Additionally, both doctors received their first round of vaccinations and reported no side effects. They each will receive their second dose next week.

“No pain. The flu shot, I was actually more sore after that,” McGowen said. “I didn’t have any issues, and everything went really well. We don’t know exactly how much immunity you have from the first shot.

“It’s just that kind of sigh of relief having that extra layer of protection. We’re definitely tired, but the vaccine was a real moral boost. It was a really great day when those came in. We’re seeing a lot of positivity now in front-line workers.”

Added Shafer, “My experience with the vaccination has been great. I had no symptoms whatsoever. I wasn’t even sore. Like Payton said, it’s really a relief to know that we’re even more protected from this virus after receiving it.”

Shafer stressed the vaccine is preventative.

“There are no miracle treatments for COVID-19,” he said. “We have medications that will assist us, but none of them are reliable enough that you can feel safe to go out to large gatherings, and perhaps contract the virus, get ill and come in for a quote-unqoute cure. The vaccine is preventative, which is so important for the population to be cautious and stay well in time to get this vaccine and allow it to do its work.”

Both doctors left a parting message.

“Stay at home. Stay safe. We’re close to the end. These daily updates are amazing. Keep getting the word out there. If we can just hold out until we have more available vaccines ... just hang in there,” McGowen said.

Added Shafer, “I would encourage everyone to keep your circle small for now. Stay well so that you and your loved ones that have underlying illnesses can get this vaccine as soon as possible and hopefully avoid the fate some of our previous patients have seen this year.”

Kern, Simmons praise doctors, echo concerns about New Year’s Eve

St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons and St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern were thrilled to have both doctors at Wednesday’s briefing.

“I just appreciate the job the doctors do and taking the time to come on here and share their experiences with the vaccine,” Simmons said. “Speaking for Team St. Clair, we appreciate everything you doctors and the front-line workers have been doing the last 292 days.”

Added Kern, “You’re our heroes. We sure appreciate your service to the community.”

Both Kern and Simmons then echoed what Shafer and McGowen stressed: Avoid large gatherings New Year’s Eve.

“People need to stay home and avoid crowds, avoid parties,” Kern said. “As we heard from the doctors that joined us today, we’re getting there. We’ve got this vaccine. We just need to hang on. Try to avoid spreading or being part of the spread of COVID until we get the vaccine and we can move back into our normal lives. If the numbers remain high, it’s only going to make it harder for us to get to where we need to go in a timely fashion.”

Kern also lamented the stress being placed on front-line health care workers, specifically referencing people ignoring COVID-19 protocols.

“The amount of pressure that is on our doctors and our nurses and all of the staff and all the first responders during COVID-19, they’re only increasing that stress by not doing what’s being asked of them,” Kern said. “They’re creating these numbers that really we don’t need to have. We don’t need to have gatherings that are going to cause, perhaps, a super-spreader incident.”

Simmons shared Kern’s frustration while citing an overnight increase of 15 hospitalizations in St. Clair County.

“There are still people out there that don’t want to listen,” Simmons said. “The hospitalizations the last 24 hours went up 15 patients overnight here in St. Clair County. That’s COVID patients; that’s not all the other illnesses and injuries that take place.

“So when we talk about capacity at our hospitals, that’s what those hospital administrators are looking at. They’re watching those numbers needing those staff members to take care of all those patients that come in, not just the COVID patients.”

Hospital, ICU bed availability drops in Region 4

Staffed hospital bed availability again dropped sharply in the metro-east Tuesday as the region’s case rate remained the same.

As of Wednesday, 14.7% of the metro-east’s staffed hospital beds were available for patient use, down from 17.7% Tuesday. Meanwhile, the region’s intensive care unit availability also fell Wednesday, dropping to 22.4% from 25.1% on Tuesday.

For Tier 3 mitigation metrics to be relaxed or to move to Tier 2, the region must have a seven-day rolling average testing positivity rate of less than 12% for three consecutive days while also seeing 20% available intensive care unit and medical/surgical bed availability for three consecutive days.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he isn’t ready to lift mitigations on the state, even as some regions see caseloads and hospitalizations and ICU usage decrease.

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.

Officials have continued to stress the possibility of the region running low on hospital and ICU beds, prompting some area hospitals to temporarily cease elective surgeries. Additionally, officials say they worry a spike of new COVID-19 cases could be on the way due to Christmas celebrations.

Region 4’s rolling seven-day average positivity rate, meanwhile, was 12.1% Wednesday, the same rate as Tuesday. The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Dec. 27. A region’s positivity rate is the 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 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 did drop sharply to 11.5%, down from 14.5% 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: 7,374 (+1,730)

New deaths: 178 (+72)

New tests: 74,573 (+7,787)

Total cases: 955,380

Total deaths: 16,357

Total tests: 13,178,017

Hospitalizations: 4,244 (-69)

People in ICU: 882 (-22)

People on ventilators: 496 (-10)

Statewide positivity rate (from Dec. 23-29): 7.6% (+0.2)

Wednesday’s breakdown for Region 4

New cases (includes Tuesday data from Washington County): 553 (+272)

New deaths (includes Tuesday data from Washington County): 5 (-4) (Madison County reported 3 new deaths; St. Clair County reported 1 new death; and Washington County reported 1 new death.)

Daily positivity rate (as of Sunday): 11.5% (-3.0%)

Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Sunday): 12.1% (no change from Tuesday)

Regional hospitalizations: 203 (-4) (provided by St. Clair County)

Regional patients on ventilators: 22 (no change from Tuesday) (provided by St. Clair County)

Hospital bed availability: 14.7% (-3.0%)

ICU bed availability: 22.4% (-2.7%)

New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 133 (+55)

New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 2 (+1) (Perry County reported 1 new death and Macoupin County reported 1 new death.)

ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 213 new positives, 1 new death, 1,491 new tests administered, 563 new recoveries, 15 additional patients hospitalized, 1 fewer patient on a ventilator

Total overall: 20,662 positives, 324 deaths, 205,878 tests administered, 18,838 recoveries, 122 patients hospitalized with 15 patients on ventilators

Additional data: Individuals who tested positives ranged from under the age of 1 to their 90s. Of the 213 new positives, 103 individuals were under the age of 40.

Congregate living facilities: Freeburg Care Center reported 11 new cases; Four Fountains of Belleville reported 5 new cases; Integrity Healthcare of Belleville reported 1 new case; and Sycamore Village Assisted Living in Swansea reported 1 new death.

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 11.5% (-4.3%); 7-day average — 11.0% (+0.3%)

MADISON COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 206 new positives, 3 new deaths, 1,118 new tests administered, 305 new recoveries, 5 fewer patients hospitalized

Total overall: 20,357 positives, 362 deaths, 190,526 tests administered, 11,305 recoveries, 54 patients hospitalized with 6 patients on ventilators

Additional data: Individuals who tested positives ranged from under the age of 10 to their 90s. Of the 206 new positives, 85 individuals were under the age of 40.

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 11.7% (+0.2%); 7-day average — 11.9% (-0.2%)

CLINTON COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 39 new positives, 31 new recoveries

Total overall: 4,420 positives, 75 deaths, 3,958 recoveries, 11 patients hospitalized

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 3.1% (-9.7%); 7-day average — 11.2% (no change from Tuesday)

RANDOLPH COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 51 new positives, 18 new recoveries

Total overall: 3,316 positives, 53 deaths, 3,038 recoveries, 5 patients hospitalized

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 17.1% (-3.7%); 7-day average — 13.8% (+0.3%)

MONROE COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 11 new positives, 1 additional patient hospitalized

Total overall: 3,067 positives, 58 deaths, 26 patients hospitalized

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 7.9% (-7.6%); 7-day average — 12.9% (-0.9%)

BOND COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: No new data

Total overall: 1,642 positives, 16 deaths, 35,055 tests administered

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 14.0% (+4.9%); 7-day average — 16.3% (+0.3)

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data (includes data from Tuesday): 33 new positives, 1 new death, 40 new recoveries

Total overall: 1,205 positives, 21 deaths, 1,081 recoveries

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 23.3% (-11.1%); 7-day average — 17.9% (-0.6%)

MACOUPIN COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 43 new positives, 1 new death, 105 new recoveries

Total overall: 3,428 positives, 85 deaths, 1,760 recoveries

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 9.7% (-6.5%); 7-day average — 7.6% (+0.3%)

JERSEY COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: No new data

Total overall: 1,935 positives, 29 deaths, 18,295 tests administered, 1,783 recoveries

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 26.0% (+14.5%); 7-day average — 10.8% (+2.1%)

PERRY COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 84 new positives, 1 new death, 22 new recoveries

Total overall: 2,249 positives, 48 deaths, 1,812 recoveries

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 20.6% (+7.2%); 7-day average — 14.5% (-2.3%)

CALHOUN COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 6 new positives

Total overall: 404 positives, 3 deaths, 372 recoveries

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 40.0% (+32.9%); 7-day average — 20.0% (+10.1%)

Editor’s note: The number of new COVID-19 cases for ZIP codes in each county is 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: 955,380 cases, 16,357 deaths, 13,178,017 tests
• U.S.: 19,977,704 cases, 346,579 deaths, 11,844,472 recoveries
  
  
• World: 82,327,498 cases, 1,796,545 deaths, 58,338,906 recoveries
  
  

Testing sites in southwestern Illinois

Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:

• Thursday, Dec. 31: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center, 200 S. Belt E. #2650
  
  
• Saturday, Jan. 2: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center, 200 S. Belt East, #2650
• Every Tuesday and Thursday: 9-11 a.m. COVID-19 rapid testing at the Clinton County Fairgrounds, 1899 Methodist St., Carlyle

The testing site at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis has been moved to St. Clair Square mall, behind Dillards. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. It’s a drive-thru with four tents, allowing people to stay in their cars. The facility will be closed Friday for New Year’s Day.

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, and hours of operation are subject to change based on available equipment.

St. Clair County hosted a “soft opening” of its new service center Dec. 22 at 330 W. Main St. in Belleville. The regular hours for the location starting Monday, Jan. 4, will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays; and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays.

“To get the new location at the old bank building up and going within about a five- or six-week time, it’s remarkable the job everyone has done,” Simmons said recently. “It’s going to be great to have a central location that is being used for a testing site and once the vaccine gets in place, it’s going to really be great.

“I think it’s really going to be a smooth operation that we can all be happy it came together so quickly.”

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 30, 2020 at 5:31 PM.