COVID-19 infection rate at lowest point since October in southwestern Illinois
The metro-east’s COVID-19 positivity rate fell to beneath 10% Friday, the lowest the rate has been since October.
The region’s rolling seven-day average positivity rate was 9.9% on Friday, down from 10.3% on Thursday. Thursday marked the lowest rate since Oct. 30, when it was 9.7%.
Additionally, the region reported a daily positivity rate of 10.3% on Friday, up from 9.8% Thursday.
Meanwhile, a total of 4,041 individuals have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the metro-east’s seven counties, while a total of 18,222 vaccines have been administered, 1,021 more than the previous days, according to state health department data.
Madison County has administered the most vaccines, with a total of 6,871 as of Friday, while St. Clair County has fully vaccinated the most individuals in the region with a total of 1,580.
Vaccinations of healthcare workers and other members of the 1A vaccinations group began in mid-December and have been ongoing since.
The state reported Friday that roughly 0.80% of its entire population has been vaccinated, or 101,670 individuals, up from 91,947 Thursday.
Additionally, the number of available hospital and ICU beds in the seven-county metro-east improved Friday, according to the state health department.
As of Friday, 13% of the metro-east’s staffed hospital beds were available for patient use, up from 12.2% on Thursday, according to state health department data. Additionally, 15.9% of the region’s intensive care unit beds were available as of Friday, up from 15.3% Thursday.
Friday also marked the 18th consecutive day the region’s hospital bed availability has been below the state-set threshold of at least 20% and the seventh-straight 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, as of Thursday, Region 4 still had 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. 12, and the hospital and ICU bed availability is based on data recorded as of Jan. 14. A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a seven-day period.
Gov. J. B. Pritzker announced Friday that southernmost Illinois. except the metro-east, had met requirements to move immediately into tier two, a less restrictive COVID-19 tier in the state’s coronavirus mitigation plan.
The state-defined Region 5 can now restart group fitness classes and lower risk youth sports. Casinos, gaming and cultural institutions such as museums can reopen with a 25% capacity and social distancing.
Region 5 includes Alexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Marion, Massac, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union, Wabash, Wayne, White and Williamson counties.
Regions 1 and 2 were also allowed to move into Tier 2. The metro-east and all other regions were still in Tier 3 as of Friday, though they were nearing loosened restrictions.
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.
State of Illinois announces new cases, deaths
Meanwhile, the state of Illinois announced 6,642 new COVID-19 cases Friday, bringing the total to 1,059,324. The state health department also announced 123 additional deaths to bring the total to 18,049since the pandemic began.
Also within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 107,156 new tests have been administered for a total of 14,564,776.
As of Thursday, when the latest data was available, 3,446 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 712 patients were in the ICU, and 386 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests from Jan. 8-14 is 6.5%, down from 6.8% the day prior.
BND reporter Kelsey Landis contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 12:44 PM.