Southwestern Illinois sees 11th consecutive day of falling COVID-19 rates
The metro-east’s COVID-19 positivity rate has fallen for 11 consecutive days, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health data.
The region’s rolling seven-day average positivity rate was 8.8% on Tuesday, down slightly from 8.9% on Monday. Tuesday marked the lowest rate since Oct. 29, when it was 9.1%.
The region has seen improvements in its seven-day average all through the month of January. On the first of the month, the rate stood at 13.2%.
The region also reported a daily positivity rate of 8.7% on Tuesday, up from 8.1% Monday.
Meanwhile, 4,234 people have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the metro-east’s seven counties, while a total of 19,414 shots have been administered.
Madison County has administered the most vaccines, with a total of 7,627 as of Tuesday, while St. Clair County has fully vaccinated the most individuals with a total of 1,617.
Vaccinations of healthcare workers and other members of the 1A vaccinations group began in mid-December and have been ongoing since. Randolph County is slated to enter 1B vaccinations this week, which include people 65 years or older, first responders and some educators.
The state reported Tuesday that roughly 0.85% of its entire population has been vaccinated, or 108,479 individuals.
Also Tuesday, 20% of the metro-east’s intensive care unit beds were available for patient use, down from 22% on Monday, according to state health department data. The region’s available staffed hospital bed metrics were not available Tuesday.
Tuesday marked the second consecutive day the region’s ICU availability has been above the state-set threshold of at least 20%, which plays a part in determining whether COVID-19 restrictions need to be tightened or relaxed.
The new testing positivity rate is based on data recorded as of Jan. 16, and the hospital and ICU bed availability is based on data recorded as of Jan. 18. 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.
The metro-east remains under Tier 3 restrictions, which includes a ban on in-door dining at restaurants and bars, among other things. On Monday, state officials announced that nine of the state’s 11 regions have had restrictions eased. The metro-east was not among them.
For Tier 3 restrictions to be relaxed or to move to Tier 2, the metro-east region must have a seven-day rolling average positivity rate of less than 12% for three consecutive days while also seeing at least 20% intensive care unit and medical/surgical bed availability for three consecutive days.
On Saturday, Region 5, Illinois’ southernmost region, had met requirements to move immediately into Tier one, a less restrictive COVID-19 tier in the state’s coronavirus mitigation plan just a day after being moved to Tier 2 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The state-defined Region 5 can now allow indoor dining and services with some restrictions on capacity and curfew. It is the first region in the state to re-enter Tier 1 after Tier 3 restrictions went into place statewide on Friday, Nov. 20.
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.
State of Illinois announces new cases, deaths
Meanwhile, the state of Illinois announced 4,318 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, bringing the total to 1,076,532. The state health department also announced 33 additional deaths to bring the total to 18,291 since the pandemic began.
Also within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 71,533 new tests have been administered for a total of 14,898,528.
As of Monday, when the latest data was available, 3,335 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 713 patients were in the ICU, and 395 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests from Jan. 12-18 is 5.7%.