COVID-19 cases have increased among children in St. Clair County

During Wednesday’s weekly press conference, St. Clair County officials announced more rising COVID-19 data.

Most notably, they outlined the increase in cases among younger people:

• Over the last four weeks, 63% of county cases have been individuals under the age of 40 and 26% of the cases have been people under the age of 21.
  
  
• Over the seven days, cases for under the age of 10 increased by 3%.
• 12% of the cases in the county are children 10 and under.
• 15% of the cases in the county are individuals 11-21.
• Only 4% of the cases in the county are people 71 and above.

“We are definitely seeing some increases in those younger age groups,” St. Clair County Health Department Director Myla Blandford said.

Overall, for the week of Aug. 5-11, officials announced 775 new positive cases. The county also reported two new deaths Wednesday, bringing the totals to 34,755 cases and 493 deaths since the pandemic began.

For the first time since St. Clair County started tracking data, all 27 zip codes reported increases. Blandford also announced Wednesday that 61 county residents are hospitalized due to COVID, up from 52 a week ago. Additionally, she said seven individuals are on ventilators, up from one last week.

“This really warrants discussion. We are seeing the numbers changing and headed in the wrong direction,” St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern said.

Blandford also said 49% of variant cases reported to the county health department were of the delta variant and 47% of the variant cases reported to them were of the alpha variant.

St. Clair County is part of what the Illinois Department of Public Health classifies as Region 4, which also includes Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, and Washington counties.

For Region 4, Blandford announced 124 individuals are hospitalized due to COVID, up from 87 a week ago. Meanwhile, the number of people from Region 4 on a ventilator jumped from five last week to 14 on Wednesday.

“The virus doesn’t care about what your political beliefs are. What we do care about are these numbers we’re showing you today,” St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons said.

Meanwhile, nearby Madison County reported 148 new cases Wednesday, bringing the total to 33,365 since the pandemic began. The county did not report any new deaths Wednesday and remains at 539. The Madison County Health Department also reported 47 patients hospitalized due to COVID with seven individuals on a ventilator.

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 6:00 AM.