Southwestern IL positivity rate remains the same as ICU availability drops
The metro-east intensive care unit availability continued to drop Saturday, marking five consecutive days of dropping availability.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 16.5% of staffed intensive care beds in the metro-east were available as of Saturday, down from 16.8% Friday. On Monday, 23.5% of ICU beds were available in the region.
Additionally, 17.4% of the metro-east’s staffed hospital beds were available for patient use, up from 17% Friday.
Under rules set by the Restore Illinois plan, if a region reaches or falls below the 20% threshold of available hospital and ICU beds, the state may impose tighter restrictions to avoid the possibility of the region running out of hospital and ICU beds. The metro-east’s hospital bed availability has been under that threshold for 11 consecutive days.
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.
Region 4’s rolling seven-day average positivity rate was 12%, the same as Thursday and Friday. The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Dec. 16. 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 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.
For Tier 3 mitigation metrics to be relaxed or to move to Tier 2, the region must experience a less than 12% 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.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday numbers are heading in the right direction, but stopped short of saying he’d allow regions to begin reopening, even if they meet metrics.
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.
Additionally, the region reported a daily positivity rate of 12.1% on Saturday, up from 10.3% on Friday.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Saturday
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: 7,562 (+185)
New deaths: 108 (-73)
New tests: 96,851 (-15,441)
Total cases: 894,367
Total deaths: 15,123
Total tests: 12,356,446
Hospitalizations: 4,624 (-66)
People in ICU: 1,000 (-23)
People on ventilators: 562 (-27)
Statewide positivity rate (from Dec. 12-18): 8.2% (+0.2)
Saturday’s COVID-19 breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 345 as of 7 p.m.
New deaths: 2 as of 7 p.m. (St. Clair County reported one death and Madison County reported one death)
Daily positivity rate (as of Wednesday): 12.1% (+1.8%)
Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Wednesday): 12.0% (No changes from Friday)
Regional hospitalizations: 211 (-2) (Provided by St. Clair County)
Regional patients on ventilators: 21 (+1) (Provided by St. Clair County)
Hospital bed availability: 17.4% (+0.4%)
ICU bed availability: 16.5% (-0.3%)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: No new data as of 4 p.m.
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: No new data as of 4 p.m.
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: 157 new positives, one new death, 1,290 new tests administered
Total overall: 19,040 positives, 295 deaths, 191,697 tests administered, 16,779 recoveries, 108 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 157 new positives, 66 were individuals under the age of 40.
Congregate living facilities: Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported one new case, Freeburg Care Center reported five new cases, Mercy Rehab and Care Center in Swansea reported seven new cases, St. Paul’s Home in Belleville reported five new cases and Willowcreek in Belleville reported one new case.
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 10.5% (+2.5%); 7-day average — 10.5% (+0.1%)
MADISON COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: 152 new confirmed positives, 15 probably positives, one new death, 1,263 new tests administered
Total overall: 18,695 positives, 334 deaths, 177,419 tests administered, 9,974 recoveries, 83 patients hospitalized with 9 patients on ventilators
Additional data:New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 1 up to the 90s. Of the 152 new positives, 93 were individuals under the age of 40.
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 12.6% (+1.7%); 7-day average — 12.9% (+0.1%)
CLINTON COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 4,117positives, 73 deaths, 3,541 recoveries, 11 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 14.2% (-0.4%); 7-day average — 14.4% (+0.6%)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 2,958 positives, 38 deaths, 2,717 recoveries, 7 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 10.7% (+0.6%); 7-day average — 9.8% (-0.8%)
MONROE COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: 21 new positives
Total overall: 2,767 positives, 56 deaths, 20 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 15.6% (+7.2%); 7-day average — 14.3% (No changes from Friday)
BOND COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 1,371 positives, 11 deaths, 34,223 tests administered
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 8.3% (+0.4%); 7-day average — 11.6% (-0.9%)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 1,058 positives, 10 deaths, 914 recoveries, 3 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 16.1% (-8.5%); 7-day average — 21.8% (-1.1%)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 3,106 positives, 74 deaths, 1,050 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 11.9% (No changes from Friday); 7-day average — 9.3% (+0.4%)
JERSEY COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 1,740 positives, 26 deaths, 16,784 tests administered, 1,568 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 8.4% (-1.0%); 7-day average — 11.8% (+0.1%)
PERRY COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 1,617 positives, 45 deaths, 1,346 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 10.7% (-3.9%); 7-day average — 16.9% (-0.7%)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Saturday’s new data: No new data as of 7 p.m.
Total overall: 362 positives, 1 death, 307 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Wednesday): Daily — 13.8% (-2.9%); 7-day average — 16.3% (-3.4%)
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 Saturday afternoon:
- Illinois: 894,367 cases, 15,123 deaths, 12,356,446 tests
- U.S.: 17,392,784 cases, 314,581 deaths, 10,170,788 recoveries
- World: 74,534,747 cases, 1,655,234 deaths, 52,373,134 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:
- 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
- Monday, Dec. 21: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Monroe County Annex, 901 Illinois Ave., Waterloo
- Wednesday, Dec. 23: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Monroe County Annex, 901 Illinois Ave., Waterloo
- Saturday, Dec. 26: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center, 200 S. Belt E. #2650
Monday, Dec. 28: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Monroe County Annex, 901 Illinois Ave., Waterloo
- Wednesday, Dec. 30: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Monroe County Annex, 901 Illinois Ave., Waterloo
- 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 E. #2650
- 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 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 19, 2020 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Southwestern IL positivity rate remains the same as ICU availability drops."