COVID vaccinations increase again in southwest IL as other key metrics remain steady

COVID summary for Wednesday, Feb. 24

On Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health listed metro-east Region 4 as having a seven-day average positivity rate of 4.1%, the same as Tuesday. The region also reported a daily positivity rate of 2.4%, the lowest since July 6 when it also was 2.4%. St. Clair County, meanwhile, reported its lowest daily positivity rate — 2.0% — since the IDPH started tracking data June 11. These rates are based on data collected through Sunday.

Region 4’s intensive care unit bed availability dipped slightly from 27% on Tuesday to 26% on Wednesday, but is still above the state’s threshold of 20%. The region had administered 118,949 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and fully vaccinated 24,129 residents as of Wednesday.

Wednesday’s breakdown for Region 4

New cases (includes Washington County’s data from Feb. 23 and Bond County’s data from Feb. 23): 159 (+66)

New deaths: 2 (no change) (St. Clair County reported 1 new death and Monroe County reported 1 new death.)

Total vaccine doses administered (as of Wednesday): 112,733 (+3,782)

Daily positivity rate (as of Sunday): 2.4% (-2.3)

7-day average positivity rate (as of Sunday): 4.1% (no change)

Regional hospitalizations: 103 (-7) (provided by St. Clair County)

Regional patients on ventilators: 8 (-3) (provided by St. Clair County)

ICU bed availability (as of Tuesday): 26% (-1.0)

New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4 (includes Jersey County’s data from Feb. 18-23): 17 (-2)

New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4 (includes Jersey County’s data from Feb. 18-23): 1 (no change) (Jersey County reported 1 new death.)

ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 50 new positives, 1 new death, 1,038 new tests administered, 77 new recoveries, 6 fewer patients hospitalized

Total overall: 27,757 positives, 445 deaths, 281,480 tests administered, 26,755 recoveries, 68 patients hospitalized with 3 patients on ventilators

Vaccines administered: 1,493 doses Tuesday, bringing the total to 48,778

% of population fully vaccinated: 3.27%

Additional data: People who tested positive ranged from under the age of 10 to their 70s. Of the 50 new positives, 25 were under the age of 40.

Congregate living facilities: Caseyville Nursing Home & Rehab reported 1 new death.

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 2.0% (-2.1); 7-day average — 3.8% (no change)

MADISON COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 78 new positives, 0 new deaths, 847 new tests administered, 210 new recoveries, 3 fewer patients hospitalized, 2 fewer patients on ventilators

Total overall: 27,339 positives, 458 deaths, 257,642 tests administered, 23,966 recoveries, 23 patients hospitalized with 5 patients on ventilators

Vaccines administered: 1,961 doses Tuesday, bringing the total to 41,023

% of population fully vaccinated: 3.33%

Additional data: People who tested positive ranged from under the age of 10 to their 80s. Of the 78 new positives, 41 were under the age of 40.

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 4.2% (-0.4); 7-day average — 6.3% (-0.4)

CLINTON COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 5 new positives, 6 new recoveries, 1 fewer patient hospitalized

Total overall: 5,556 positives, 89 deaths, 5,420 recoveries, 4 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 59 doses Tuesday, bringing the total to 8,917

% of population fully vaccinated: 6.97%

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 5.2% (+3.2); 7-day average — 2.2% (+0.1)

RANDOLPH COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 4 new positives

Total overall: 3,973 positives, 82 deaths, 3,874 recoveries, 3 patient hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 267 doses Tuesday, bringing the total to 6,262

% of population fully vaccinated: 5.68%

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 0.0% (-4.1); 7-day average — 1.1% (no change)

MONROE COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: 9 new positives, 1 new death, 4 fewer patients hospitalized

Total overall: 4,061 positives, 89 deaths, 18 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 279 doses Tuesday, bringing the total to 6,216

% of population fully vaccinated: 3.49%

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 5.9% (+0.6); 7-day average — 5.0% (-0.1)

BOND COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data (includes data from Feb. 23): 12 new positives, 2,460 new tests administered

Total overall: 2,057 positives, 21 deaths, 43,408 tests administered

Vaccines administered: 24 doses Tuesday, bringing the total to 3,048

% of population fully vaccinated: 3.63%

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 0.0% (-5.9); 7-day average — 1.7% (no change)

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data (includes data from Feb. 23): 1 new positive, 2 new recoveries, 1 fewer patient hospitalized

Total overall: 1,585 positives, 27 deaths, 1,559 recoveries

Vaccines administered: 64 doses Tuesday, bringing the total to 2,636

% of population fully vaccinated: 4.04%

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 0.0% (-10.0); 7-day average — 9.4% (-0.9)

MACOUPIN COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: No new data

Total overall: 4,479 positives, 108 deaths, 3,812 recoveries

Vaccines administered: 581 doses Tuesday, bringing the total to 9,956

% of population fully vaccinated: 6.88%

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 5.2% (+3.6); 7-day average — 3.9% (+0.2)

JERSEY COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data (includes data from Feb. 18-23): 17 new positives, 1 new death, 817 new tests administered, 21 new recoveries

Total overall: 2,466 positives, 45 deaths, 25,755 tests administered, 2,413 recoveries

Vaccines administered: 31 doses Tuesday, bringing the total to 5,303

% of population fully vaccinated: 5.18%

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 4.0% (+4.0); 7-day average — 3.3% (no change)

PERRY COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: No new data

Total overall: 3,145 positives, 60 deaths, 3,042 recoveries

Vaccines administered: 180 doses Tuesday, bringing the total to 3,602

% of population fully vaccinated: 4.28%

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 2.7% (+1.5); 7-day average —2.3% (+0.5)

CALHOUN COUNTY

Wednesday’s new data: No new data

Total overall: 491 positives, 5 deaths, 482 recoveries

Vaccines administered: 15 doses Tuesday, bringing the total to 1,125

% of population fully vaccinated: 6.37%

Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 0.0% (no change); 7-day average — 6.8% (+0.2)

Editor’s note: The number of new COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in each county is reported on Mondays and shows the increase for the past week. Information comes from county sources and the Illinois Department of Public Health website.

Illinois reports new COVID cases, deaths Wednesday

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 of COVID-19: 2,022 (+357)

New deaths: 44 (+17)

New COVID-19 tests: 82,976 (+21,576)

Total cases: 1,179,342

Total deaths: 20,374

Total tests: 17,804,537

Total Illinoisans fully vaccinated against COVID-19: 619,480 (+48,220) — or 4.86% of the population

Total vaccine doses administered: 2,310,929 (+55,947)

Hospitalizations: 1,511 (+23)

People in ICU: 338 (-23)

People on ventilators: 172 (no change)

Statewide positivity rate (from Feb. 17-23): 2.6% (-0.2)

Nation, world COVID-19 statistics

Here are the latest available statistics from the Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus map as of Wednesday afternoon.

• U.S.: 28,897,718 cases, 514,996 deaths, 19,212,517 recoveries
• World: 112,680,152 cases, 2,497,171 deaths, 88,266,708 recoveries
  
  

Testing sites in southwestern Illinois

Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:

• Saturday, Feb. 27: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Madison County Health Department, 101 E. Edwardsville Road, Wood River.
  
  

• Every Tuesday and Thursday: 9-11 a.m. COVID-19 rapid testing at the Clinton County Fairgrounds, 1899 Methodist St., Carlyle.

The Illinois Department of Public Health will continue to deploy mobile testing teams to locations in East St. Louis, including 4601 State St., 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.

The testing site at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis has been moved to St. Clair Square mall, in the parking lot behind Dillards. It’s open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. It’s a drive-thru with four tents, allowing people to stay in their cars.

St. Clair County has a service center at 330 W. Main St. in Belleville. Its regular hours are 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursdays; and 7 a.m.-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.

COVID-19 definition key

• Region 4: The state-defined metro-east region includes St. Clair, Madison, Clinton, Monroe, Randolph, Bond and Washington counties.
• Daily positivity rate: The percentage of tests performed in a single day that were positive for COVID-19. Source: dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics
• 7-day average positivity rate: The number of positive tests in a week, divided by the total number of tests performed during the same period. It is one measure Illinois uses to determine whether restrictions should be strengthened or loosened because it gives an indication of the infection rate in a community. The state-defined target is 8% or less. Source: dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics
• Hospitalizations: The number of patients in the hospital who have COVID-19 or are suspected of having the disease.
• ICU bed availability: The number of staffed intensive-care unit beds that are empty over seven days, divided by the total number of beds in the region. It is another measure the state uses to make decisions about restrictions. The state-defined target is 20% or more. Source: dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics
• Vaccine doses administered: The number of shots provided to individuals. Authorized COVID-19 vaccines require two shots. Source: dph.illinois.gov/covid19/vaccinedata
• % of population vaccinated: The number of county residents who have received both shots of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine, divided by the county’s total population. Source: dph.illinois.gov/covid19/vaccinedata

This story was originally published February 24, 2021 at 5:14 PM.