Southwestern Illinois counties have fully vaccinated nearly 100,000 residents

COVID-19 summary for Thursday, March 18

According to data released by the Illinois Department of Public Health on Thursday, the metro-east region has now fully vaccinated nearly 100,000 people and administered at least one dose of the vaccine to nearly 250,000 individuals.

The state health department reported a total of 246,039 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and 95,447 residents have been fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, in St. Clair and Madison counties, 194,208 vaccines have been administered and 74,620 residents have been fully vaccinated. Overall, more than 1.6 million Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated.

Also on Thursday, the state health department listed metro-east Region 4 as having a seven-day average positivity rate of 3.4%, up from 3.0% on Wednesday. The state of Illinois surpassed 21,000 COVID-related deaths Thursday as well.

Thursday’s breakdown for Region 4

New cases from Wednesday-Thursday: 164 (+59 from Tuesday’s total of 105)

New deaths from Wednesday-Thursday: 2 (+1 from Tuesday’s total of 1) (Madison County reported 1 new death Wednesday and St. Clair County reported 1 new death Thursday.)

Total vaccine doses administered (as of Wednesday): 246,039 (+11,161 from Tuesday)

Daily positivity rate (as of Monday): 4.6% (+3.0)

7-day average positivity rate (as of Monday): 3.4% (+0.4)

Regional hospitalizations: 57 (-8 from Tuesday) (provided by St. Clair County)

Regional patients on ventilators: 7 (+1 from Tuesday) (provided by St. Clair County)

ICU bed availability (as of Wednesday): 35% (-1.0)

ST. CLAIR COUNTY

New data from Wednesday-Thursday: 83 new positives, 1 new death, 2,114 new tests administered, 99 new recoveries, no change in hospitalization data

Total overall: 28,912 positives, 463 deaths, 302,843 tests administered, 27,969 recoveries, 36 patients hospitalized with 5 patients on a ventilator

Vaccines administered: 4,438 doses Tuesday-Wednesday, bringing the total to 99,057

% of population fully vaccinated: 15.36%

Additional data: People who tested positive Thursday ranged from under the age of 10 to their 80s. Of the 40 new positives Thursday, 21 were under the age of 40.

Congregate living facilities: No new cases or deaths Thursday

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 4.1% (+3.0); 7-day average — 3.2% (+0.4)

MADISON COUNTY

New data from Wednesday-Thursday: 82 new positives, 1 new death, 1,657 new tests administered, 45 new recoveries, 2 fewer patients hospitalized, 1 additional patient on a ventilator

Total overall: 28,109 positives, 470 deaths, 274,591 tests administered, 27,766 recoveries, 18 patients hospitalized with 2 patients on a ventilator

Vaccines administered: 4,379 doses Tuesday-Wednesday, bringing the total to 95,151

% of population fully vaccinated: 13.05%

Additional data: People who tested positive Thursday ranged from under the age of 10 to their 60s. Of the 39 new positives Thursday, 26 were under the age of 40.

Positivity rate (as of Monday): Daily — 6.4% (+2.1); 7-day average — 5.2% (+0.3)

CLINTON COUNTY

New data from Wednesday-Thursday: 25 new positives, 24 new recoveries, 2 fewer patients hospitalized

Total overall: 5,633 positives, 89 deaths, 5,510 recoveries, 0 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 282 doses Tuesday-Wednesday, bringing the total to 15,247

% of population fully vaccinated: 17.27%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 3.1% (+3.1); 7-day average — 2.1% (+0.4)

RANDOLPH COUNTY

New data from Wednesday-Thursday: 4 new positives, 3 new recoveries, 2 new hospitalizations

Total overall: 4,022 positives, 82 deaths, 3,929 recoveries, 2 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 438 doses Tuesday-Wednesday, bringing the total to 11,120

% of population fully vaccinated: 14.01%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 0.0% (no change); 7-day average — 0.9% (-0.1)

MONROE COUNTY

New data from Wednesday-Thursday: 13 new positives

Total overall: 4,174 positives, 100 deaths, 3 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 958 doses Tuesday-Wednesday, bringing the total to 13,498

% of population fully vaccinated: 14.38%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 11.5% (+4.1); 7-day average — 5.0.% (+0.8)

BOND COUNTY

New data from Wednesday-Thursday: No new data

Total overall: 2,075 positives, 21 deaths, 46,628 tests administered

Vaccines administered: 323 doses Tuesday-Wednesday, bringing the total to 6,136

% of population fully vaccinated: 13.87%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 2.9% (+2.9); 7-day average — 0.2% (+0.1)

WASHINGTON COUNTY

New data from Wednesday-Thursday: No new data

Total overall: 1,606 positives, 29 deaths, 1,579 recoveries, 0 patient hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 343 doses Tuesday-Wednesday, bringing the total to 5,830

% of population fully vaccinated: 15.73%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 0.0% (-5.0); 7-day average — 0.2% (-3.8)

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 Thursday

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: 2,325 (+670)

New deaths: 34 (+17)

New COVID-19 tests: 89,817 (+12,019)

Total cases: 1,216,090

Total deaths: 21,022

Total tests: 19,389,098

Total Illinoisans fully vaccinated against COVID-19: 1,645,032 (+39,920) — or 12.91% of the population

Total vaccine doses administered: 4,374,171 (+91,684)

Hospitalizations: 1,120 (-23)

People in ICU: 252 (-7)

People on ventilators: 100 (-2)

Statewide positivity rate (from March 11-17): 2.4% (+0.1)

Nation, world COVID-19 statistics

Here are the latest available statistics from the Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus map and Worldometer as of Thursday afternoon:

• U.S.: 30,294,798 cases, 550,649 deaths, 22,447,275 recoveries
  
  
• World: 121,823,305 cases, 2,692,728 deaths, 98,208,903 recoveries
  
  

Testing sites in southwestern Illinois, change at St. Clair Square mall

Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:

• 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. The facility previously was open daily. Now, per county health officials Thursday, it will be open Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday, still from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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 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 March 18, 2021 at 4:30 PM.