More than 14,000 COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered in southwestern Illinois
More than 14,000 COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered in the metro-east as of Tuesday, according to new data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
According to the data, 14,325 vaccines have been administered,with a total of 3,120 people fully vaccinated.
Here is the breakdown of vaccinations per county:
- St. Clair County has administered 4,829, 0.45% of its population
- Madison County has administered 5,207, 0.39% of its population
- Monroe County has administered 777, 0.29% of its population
- Washington County has administered 346, 0.66% of its population
- Randolph County has administered 1,212, 0.83% of its population
- Bond County has administered 407, 0.50% of its population
- Clinton County has administered 1,547, 0.93% of its population
As of Tuesday, Illinois had administered 353,791 vaccines.
Vaccine distribution is still in its earliest stage, known as 1A. Those who work in healthcare or work or are living in long-term care facilities are eligible to be vaccinated during the 1A phase.
The second phase of vaccinations, 1B, will include first responders and other healthcare workers. Officials expect the total vaccination of 1A to take at least another month.
St. Clair County Health Department Emergency Response Coordinator Sam Bierman said Tuesday she expects it will take a combined effort with the county and local hospitals to vaccinate every resident in St. Clair County. She said officials plan to make the process as smooth as possible when it’s time to vaccinate the general population.
“It’s going to be a team effort to get all of our residents in St. Clair County vaccinated,” Bierman said.
COVID-19 positivity rate drops in southwestern Illinois
Region 4’s COVID-19 positivity rate continued to fall Tuesday, marking the fourth consecutive day the rate has decreased.
The metro-east’s rolling seven-day average positivity rate was 11.5% on Tuesday, down from 11.9% Monday. Tuesday marked the lowest the region’s rate has been since Nov. 4. Additionally, the region reported a daily positivity rate of 9.1% on Tuesday, the lowest figure since Nov. 1 and a drop from 9.9% on Monday.
The number of available hospital beds in the seven-county metro-east, meanwhile, had minor fluctuations Monday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
As of Tuesday, 11.9% of the metro-east’s staffed hospital beds were available for patient use, the same as the previous day, according to state health department data. Additionally, 18.2% of the region’s intensive care unit beds were available as of Monday, down from 19.1% the day prior.
Tuesday marked the 15th-consecutive day the region’s hospital bed availability has been below the state-set threshold of 20% and the sixth day the region’s ICU availability has been under the threshold, which plays a part in determining whether COVID-19 restrictions need to be tightened or relaxed. Currently, the entire state is in Tier 3 mitigations.
Overall, Region 4 still has the highest positivity rate and the lowest hospital bed availability statewide.
For Tier 3 mitigation metrics to be relaxed or to move to Tier 2, the region must experience a seven-day rolling average positivity rate of less than 12% for three consecutive days while also seeing at least 20% available intensive care unit and medical/surgical bed availability for three consecutive days.
The new testing positivity rate is based on data recorded as of Jan. 9, and the hospital and ICU bed availability is based on data recorded as of Jan. 10. A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a seven-day period.
Restrictions on Illinois businesses may be lifted as early as Friday, Jan. 15, depending on the level of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in their communities, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday. Illinois officials had paused any removal of restrictions through the end of year holidays, even as statistics improved in some areas of the state.
Officials picked Friday as the earliest date for that to happen because it is outside of the time frame during which the state could see any potential surge in COVID-19 diagnoses from holiday gatherings. Local officials say a recent spike in cases and deaths may be a result of recent gatherings.
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 in the metro-east have continuously warned about the possibility of the region running low on hospital and ICU beds, prompting some area hospitals to temporarily cease elective surgeries. Officials also worry a spike of new COVID-19 cases still could be on the way due to New Year’s Eve celebrations.
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.
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: 6,642 (+1,866)
New deaths: 117 (+64)
New tests: 93,491 (+26,794)
Total cases: 1,040,168
Total deaths: 17,743
Total Vaccines Administered: 353,791
Total tests: 14,263,477
Hospitalizations: 3,553 (+13)
People in ICU: 757 (-2)
People on ventilators: 409 (+8)
Statewide positivity rate (from Jan. 5-11): 7.5% (-0.1)
Tuesday’s breakdown for Region 4
New cases: 536
New deaths: 8 (Madison County reported 5 new deaths, St. Clair County reported 1 new death and Monroe County reported 2 new deaths)
Vaccines Administered: 72,458
Daily positivity rate (as of Saturday): 9.1% (-0.8)
Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Saturday): 11.5% (-0.4)
Regional hospitalizations: 206 (provided by St. Clair County)
Regional patients on ventilators: 15 (provided by St. Clair County)
Hospital bed availability: 11.9% (No changes from Monday)
ICU bed availability: 18.2% (-0.9)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 39
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 4 (Jersey County reported four deaths)
Editor’s note: The number of new COVID-19 cases for ZIP codes in each county is reported on Mondays and shows the cumulative increase for the past week. Information comes from county sources and the IDPH website.
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 188 new positives, 1 new death, 1,438 new tests administered
Total overall: 23,479 positives, 363 deaths, 225,926 tests administered, 21,062 recoveries, 111 patients hospitalized with 9 patients on ventilators
Vaccines Administrated: 4,829
Additional data: People who tested positive ranged from under the age of 1 to their 90s. Of the 188 new positives, 120 individuals were under the age of 40.
Congregate living facilities: Bria of Belleville reported two new cases, Cedarridge of Lebanon reported seven new cases and Colonnade of O’Fallon reported six new cases.
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 11.3% (+3.1); seven-day average — 10.7% (No changes from Monday)
MADISON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 127 confirmed positives, 14 probable positives, 1,253 new tests administered, 5 new deaths
Total overall: 22,786 positives, 395 deaths, 208,571 tests administered, 13,626 recoveries, 64 patients hospitalized with 6 patients on ventilators
Vaccines Administrated: 5,207
Additional data: People who tested positive ranged from under the age of 1 to their 90s. Of the 141 new positives, 92 individuals were under the age of 40.
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 7.8% (-3.7); 7-day average — 12.9% (-0.9)
CLINTON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 18 new positives
Total overall: 4,831 positives, 76 deaths, 4,398 recoveries, 12 patients hospitalized
Vaccines Administrated: 1,547
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 9.9% (+1.7); 7-day average — 11.4% (-0.3)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 5:30 p.m.
Total overall: 3,609 positives, 64 deaths, 3,333 recoveries
Vaccines Administrated: 1,212
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 5.2% (-5.6); 7-day average — 10.7% (-0.7)
MONROE COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 16 new positives, 2 new deaths
Total overall: 3,462 positives, 64 deaths, 36 patients hospitalized
Vaccines Administrated: 777
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 9.8% (-3.9); seven-day average — 12.6% (-0.6)
BOND COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 32 new positives
Total overall: 1,806 positives, 17 deaths, 35,667 tests administered
Vaccines Administrated: 407
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 6.2% (-2.8); seven-day average —10.8% (-0.6)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 5:30 p.m.
Total overall: 1,374 positives, 23 deaths, 1,238 recoveries, 7 patients hospitalized
Vaccines Administrated: 346
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 8.8% (-9.6); 7-day average — 21.7% (-2.0)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 5:30 p.m.
Total overall: 3,824 positives, 92 deaths, 2,384 recoveries
Vaccines Administrated: 1,385
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 14.0% (+6.6); 7-day average — 9.8% (+0.3)
JERSEY COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 12 new positives, 4 new deaths
Total overall: 2,122 positives, 36 deaths, 20,574 tests administered, 2,018 recoveries
Vaccines Administrated: 687
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 3.5% (+0.1); 7-day average — 7.6% (-1.1)
PERRY COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: 27 new positives
Total overall: 2,622 positives, 52 deaths, 2,254 recoveries
Vaccines Administrated: 685
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 3.6% (-1.5); 7-day average — 6.1% (-3.0)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Tuesday’s new data: No new data as of 5:30 p.m.
Total overall: 437 positives, 4 deaths, 392 recoveries
Vaccines Administrated: 197
Positivity rates (as of Saturday): Daily — 0.0% (-18.4); 7-day average — 13.5% (-2.9)
State, nation, world COVID-19 statistics
Here are the latest available statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Worldometer coronavirus map, and Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus map as of Tuesday afternoon.
- Illinois: 1,040,168 cases, 17,743 deaths, 14,263,477 tests
- U.S.: 22,925,341 cases, 383,318 deaths, 13,484,204 recoveries
- World: 90,799,621 cases, 1,945,134 deaths, 64,923,255 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:
- Tuesday, Jan. 12: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at First United Presbyterian Church, 201 E. Church St., Collinsville.
- Tuesday, Jan. 12: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus, 4225 Old Alton Road, Granite City.
- 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 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.
Additionally, St. Clair County has a new service center at 330 W. Main St. in Belleville. The regular hours for the location are 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.
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 January 12, 2021 at 4:09 PM.