Indoor dining may be back on the menu soon as southwestern IL COVID-19 metrics improve
The metro-east met an important COVID-19 metric Tuesday that could lead to an easing of indoor dining restrictions in the coming days.
The metro-east’s intensive care unit bed availability stood at 20% Tuesday— up from 19% Monday— meaning the region has nearly met all the metrics needed to go to the Rebuild Illinois Plan’s Tier 1 restrictions.
If the rate holds for an additional two days, restrictions on indoor dining could be lifted this week, according to the state’s plan.
The region is currently in Tier 2 mitigations, which bans indoor service at bars and restaurants. If the region meets additional requirements, it could move into Tier 1, which allows indoor dining with the lesser of 25 patrons or 25% capacity.
Area lawmakers have been calling for Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health to loosen COVID-19 restrictions further in an effort to help struggling businesses like restaurants that are not permitted to offer indoor services. They argued that the region was close enough to the required metrics and should be returned to Tier 1 along with the rest of the state.
The region must meet the following metrics to move to Tier 1:
- Test positivity rate between 6.5% and 8% for three consecutive days on a seven-day average
- Staffed ICU bed availability must be at 20% or more for three consecutive days on a seven-day average
- No sustained increase in COVID patients in the hospital on a seven-day average for seven of 10 days
Meanwhile, the metro-east’s COVID-19 seven-day average positivity rate on Tuesday stayed under 8% for the ninth-consecutive day at 6.5%, the same as Monday. It’s the lowest the rate has been since Oct. 9.
The metro-east officially received word it would move into Tier 2 restrictions as part of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois plan two weeks ago. The area is the last remaining region in Illinois to remain under the state’s tightest COVID-19 restrictions.
Region 4 includes St. Clair, Madison, Bond, Clinton, Monroe, Randolph and Washington counties.
The region also reported a daily positivity rate of 7.7% on Tuesday, up from 4.2% on Monday.
The new testing positivity rate is based on data recorded as of Jan. 30. A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a seven-day period.
Region 4 vaccine update
As of Tuesday, 9,080 people have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the metro-east’s seven counties. Meanwhile, a total of 43,522 shots have been administered, according to data from the state health department.
Madison County has administered the most vaccines in the region with a total of 15,144 as of Tuesday and had fully vaccinated the most people at 3,368.
Vaccinations of healthcare workers and others in the 1A vaccinations group began in mid-December and have been ongoing since. In St. Clair County, people 75 years and up are now eligible to begin 1B vaccinations.
Vaccinations in Phase 1B are by appointment only at some pharmacies, as well as state-run and locally-run clinics. More detailed information about locations will be announced at coronavirus.illinois.gov.
Here’s how you can let your county health department know you are interested in setting up a COVID-19 vaccine appointment when you become eligible:
- St. Clair County: Fill out the COVID-19 Notification for Vaccine Availability form online at health.co.st-clair.il.us. (If you don’t have internet access or need help signing up, call the health department at 618-825-4447.)
- Madison County: Fill out the Madison County Health Department COVID-19 Vaccine Registration Survey online at madisonchd.org. (Temporarily suspended due to high demand)
- Clinton County: Fill out the Clinton County, IL Health Department COVID-19 Vaccine Registry online at clintoncountyhealth.com or call the health department at 618-594-6622 to be added to the vaccine waitlist. (The waitlist is currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older. You don’t need to fill out the form if you already called to get on the waitlist.)
- Monroe County: Sign up for the phone and email alert system CodeRED.
- Randolph County: Call the health department at 618-826-5007 or fill out one of the following vaccine waiting lists: Memorial Hospital COVID-19 Vaccination Sign-Up online at mhchester.com/covidvax; or Red Bud Regional Hospital’s COVID-19 Vaccine Waiting List online at redbudanytime.com. (The waitlists are currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older.)
- Bond County: Fill out the Bond County, IL Health Department COVID-19 Vaccine Registry online at bchd.us to be added to the vaccine waitlist. (The waitlist is currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older, health care workers and frontline essential workers, including teachers, first responders and grocery store employees. You do not need to fill out the form if you already called the health department to get on the waitlist.)
- Washington County: Call the health department at 618-327-3644 to be added to the vaccine waitlist. (The waitlist is currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older.)
State of Illinois vaccine update
A total of 1,455,825 doses of vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois as of Tuesday, including Chicago. In addition, about 496,100 doses total have been allocated to the federal government’s Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities.
This brings the total Illinois doses to 1,951,925. The state health department is currently reporting a total of 1,028,969 vaccines administered, including 163,592 for long-term care facilities. On Monday, a total of 32,559 doses were administered. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 44,139 doses.
For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
Meanwhile, the state reported Tuesday that roughly 1.78% of its entire population has been fully vaccinated, or 227,362 individuals.
Illinois announces new cases, deaths
The state of Illinois announced 2,304 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, bringing the total to 1,130,917. The state health department also announced 47 additional deaths to bring the total to 19,306 since the pandemic began.
Also within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 60,899 new tests have been administered for a total of 16,161,454.
As of Monday, when the latest data was available, 2,447 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 533 patients were in the ICU, and 278265 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests from Jan. 26-Feb. 1 is 3.9%, the same as the previous day.
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 1:01 PM.