ICU bed availability and vaccinations increase, positivity rate falls in southwest IL

COVID-19 summary for Thursday, April 22

According to data released by the Illinois Department of Public Health on Thursday, Madison and St. Clair counties have combined to vaccinate 330,380 people and fully vaccinated 152,517 against the coronavirus.

Overall, Madison County has administered 168,071 COVID-19 vaccines and fully vaccinated 77,882 residents, while St. Clair County has administered 162,309 vaccines and fully vaccinated 74,635 individuals.

Meanwhile, the metro-east region has now fully vaccinated 191,801 people and administered at least one dose of the vaccine to 414,038 individuals.

In total, more than 3.5 million Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 28.04% of the state’s population, according to IDPH data.

On Thursday the state health department listed metro-east Region 4 as having a seven-day average positivity rate of 3.1%, down from 3.3% on Wednesday. The state reported a daily positivity rate of 3.1% on Thursday, the same as Wednesday.

Meanwhile, intensive care unit bed availability increased to 35% Thursday, up from 34% on Wednesday.

Thursday’s breakdown for Region 4

New cases : 78 (-12)

New deaths: 0 (no change)

Total vaccine doses administered (as of Wednesday): 414,038 (+2,909)

Daily positivity rate (as of Monday): 3.1% (no change)

7-day average positivity rate (as of Monday): 3.1% (-0.2)

Regional hospitalizations: 45 (-1) (provided by St. Clair County)

Regional patients on ventilators: 3 (-1) (provided by St. Clair County)

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

ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: 33 new positives, 0 new deaths, 873 new tests administered, 21 new recoveries, 4 fewer patients hospitalized, 1 new patient on a ventilator

Total overall: 30,122 positives, 475 deaths, 332,367 tests administered, 29,307 recoveries, 22 patients hospitalized with 3 patients on a ventilator

Vaccines administered: 1,062 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 162,309

% of population fully vaccinated: 28.59%

Additional data: People who tested positive ranged from under the age of 10 to their 70s. Of the 33 new positives, 25 were under the age of 40.

Congregate living facilities: No new cases or deaths

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 3.3% (-0.4); 7-day average — 3.0% (no change)

MADISON COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: 34 new positives, 0 new deaths, 972 new tests administered, 32 new recoveries, 5 fewer patients hospitalized, 1 fewer patient on a ventilator

Total overall: 29,476 positives, 493 deaths, 302,874 tests administered, 29,110 recoveries, 16 patients hospitalized with 0 patients on a ventilator

Vaccines administered: 1,091 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 168,071

% of population fully vaccinated: 29.45%

Additional data: People who tested positive ranged from under the age of 10 to their 80s. Of the 34 new positives, 20 were under the age of 40.

Positivity rate (as of Monday): Daily — 3.3 (-0.7); 7-day average — 4.7% (-0.4)

CLINTON COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: 10 new positives, 2 new recoveries

Total overall: 5,718 positives, 90 deaths, 5,601 recoveries, 2 patient hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 231 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 24,004

% of population fully vaccinated: 29.94%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 4.1% (+4.1); 7-day average — 2.0% (+0.1)

RANDOLPH COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: 0 new cases, 7 new recoveries, 2 new patients hospitalized

Total overall: 4,121 positives, 85 deaths, 4,020 recoveries, 2 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 132 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 16,830

% of population fully vaccinated: 24.77%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 2.6% (+1.3); 7-day average — 1.2% (+0.2)

MONROE COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: 1 new positive

Total overall: 4,353 positives, 105 deaths, 4 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 212 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 25,064

% of population fully vaccinated: 33.64%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 1.2% (+1.2); 7-day average — 1.9% (-0.8)

BOND COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: No new data

Total overall: 2,135 positives, 21 deaths, 60,950 tests administered

Vaccines administered: 161 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 8,956

% of population fully vaccinated: 25.19%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 5.0% (+5.0); 7-day average — 1.1% (-0.3)

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: No new data

Total overall: 1,637 positives, 29 deaths, 1,614 recoveries, 0 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 20 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 8,804

% of population fully vaccinated: 30.87%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 5.9% (+0.6); 7-day average — 2.8% (+0.2)

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: 3,170 (+405)

New deaths: 33 (+5)

New COVID-19 tests: 88,336 (+7,203)

Total cases: 1,312,722

Total deaths: 21,755

Total tests: 22,008,695

Total Illinoisans fully vaccinated against COVID-19: 3,572,205— or 28.04% of the population (+73,732)

Total vaccine doses administered: 8,473,953 (+131,411)

Hospitalizations: 2,147 (-44)

People in ICU: 511 (-10)

People on ventilators: 238 (+1)

Statewide positivity rate (from April 15-21): 3.8% (no change)

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.: 32,602,051 cases, 583,330 deaths, 25,177,434 recoveries
  
  
• World: 144,455,684 cases, 3,071,798 deaths, 122,640,995 recoveries
  
  

Testing in southwestern Illinois, change at St. Clair Square site

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

Touchette Regional Hospital and Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation also offer daily testing in Wood River. Call 618-646-2596 for an appointment.

Vaccination sites

The following locations are COVID-19 vaccination sites:

• Every Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Sunday (closed Wednesday): 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the St. Clair County Fairgrounds, 200 S Belt E #2650, Belleville. https://www.facebook.com/SCC.HealthDepartment/

• Every Monday-Friday: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 330 West Main St., Belleville. As vaccine supply allows.

• Saturday, April 24: Gordon Moore Park, 4550 College Ave., Alton. www.madisonchd.org.
• Wednesday, April 28: Noon to 4 p.m. at the Power of Change Christian Center, 2348 Jerome Lane, Cahokia. This is through Touchette Regional Hospital and SIHF Healthcare. No appointment required. The Moderna vaccine will be distributed, so a second dose will be necessary in four weeks. The vaccine will be available to any Illinois resident age 18 and older, and 500 doses will be available each day. Please bring some form of identification as well as insurance information. However, insurance is not required, and there is no out-of-pocket cost to receive the vaccine.
• Friday, April 30: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. John Missionary Baptist Church, 4264 Piggott Avenue, East St. Louis,. This is through Touchette Regional Hospital and SIHF Healthcare. No appointment required. The Moderna vaccine will be distributed, so a second dose will be necessary in four weeks. The vaccine will be available to any Illinois resident age 18 and older, and 500 doses will be available each day. Please bring some form of identification as well as insurance information. However, insurance is not required, and there is no out-of-pocket cost to receive the vaccine.

Additionally, people can now call 1-844-216-4707 to make an appointment for a COVID vaccine at any HSHS vaccine clinic. Locally, HSHS vaccine clinics are located in O’Fallon, Edwardsville and Highland. For more information, visit www.hshs.org/vaccine.

• O’Fallon and Edwardsville: Vaccine appointments are required. COVID vaccine appointments are available to Illinois residents who are 18 years and older. Call 1-844-216-4707 to schedule, or people can schedule online. HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital is administering a limited number of second dose vaccines through the end of April and then will pause their vaccine clinic and direct patients to HSHS Medical Group locations. HSHS Medical Group will continue to offer first and second doses at HSHS Medical Group Multispecialty Care, located at 1188 Illinois 157, Suite 100, in Edwardsville; and HSHS Medical Group Family Medicine, located at 1512 N. Green Mount Road, in O’Fallon.

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 April 23, 2021 at 9:00 AM.