Southwest IL continues to report encouraging COVID-19 metrics. A county by county look:

COVID-19 positivity rates dropped again this week in southwestern Illinois — with no county reporting higher than 4.4% — while ICU bed availability and vaccinations also increased.

Here is a breakdown of vaccine distribution and positivity rate data from Oct. 21-27 in Region 4.

Region 4 vaccinations

According to data released by the state health department Wednesday, 331,542 Region 4 residents have been fully vaccinated out of the estimated 660,225 who live in the region, or about 50.2%. That’s an increase of 2,841 people from the previous week.

Region 4 consists of Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington counties.

The vaccination numbers for Region 4 increased this week while still remaining fairly steady since the beginning of September:

• 3,480 people became fully vaccinated from Sept. 2-8.
• Nearly 4,500 people became fully vaccinated from Sept. 9-15.
• 3,883 people became fully vaccinated from Sept. 16-22.
• 3,496 people became fully vaccinated from Sept. 23-29.
• 3,093 people became fully vaccinated from Sept. 30-Oct. 6.
• 2,436 people became fully vaccinated from Oct. 7-13.
• 2,576 people became fully vaccinated from Oct. 14-20.

Madison and St. Clair counties continue to vaccinate the most individuals in Region 4, combining to fully vaccinate 2,338 people from Oct. 21-27. That’s an increase from the 2,143 people who became fully vaccinated the week of Oct. 14-20.

Vaccine breakdown by county

Here is the latest vaccination data from Region 4:

• Bond County: 6,906 people have been fully vaccinated, or 41.53% of the population. That’s an increase of 51 people from one week ago.
• Clinton County: 18,816 people have been fully vaccinated, or 49.99% of the population. That’s an increase of 152 people from one week ago.
• Madison County: 136,264 people have been fully vaccinated, or 51.53% of the population. That’s an increase of 1,270 people from one week ago.
• Monroe County: 18,584 people have been fully vaccinated, or 54.13% of the population. That’s an increase of 93 people from one week ago.
• Randolph County: 14,334 people have been fully vaccinated, or 44.65% of the population. That’s an increase of 145 people from one week ago.
• St. Clair County: 129,545 people have been fully vaccinated, or 49.62% of the population. That’s an increase of 1,068 people from one week ago.
• Washington County: 7,093 people have been fully vaccinated, or 50.68% of the population. That’s an increase of 62 people from one week ago.

For state totals, according to Wednesday’s data, 7,235,077 Illinois residents have been fully vaccinated, or 56.79%. That’s an increase of 51,710 people from the previous week after the state reported 47,980 people became fully vaccinated from Oct. 14-20.

Region 4 positivity rates

The positivity rate for Region 4 as a whole and among its individual counties continues to show promising trends.

Positivity rate is one key metric the Illinois Department of Public Health measures to determine whether to reinstate restrictions.

Below are some trends for Region 4 from Oct. 21-27, according to data released by the state health department Wednesday.

• The positivity rate for Region 4 dropped from 3.1% last week to 2.2% this week.
• The Region 4 positivity rate has remained below 5% since Sept. 22 and below 3% since Oct. 18.
• All seven counties reported decreases from the beginning of September, as did Region 4 as a whole.
  
  
• Five of the seven counties reported positivity rates below 3%.
• The highest positivity rate reported by any of the seven counties was 4.4%.

Here is a more detailed look at the seven-day rate fluctuations for Region 4 counties from one week ago and from the beginning of September, according to the most recent data released by the state health department Wednesday:

• Region 4: 2.2% on Oct. 24; 3.1% on Oct. 17; and 6.6% on Sept. 3.
  
  
• Bond County: 2.5% on Oct. 24; 4.3% on Oct. 17; and 6.4% on Sept. 3.
  
  
• Clinton County: 1.4% on Oct. 24; 4.5% on Oct. 17; and 5.5% on Sept. 3.
• Madison County: 2.1% on Oct. 24; 3.2% on Oct. 17; and 6.9% on Sept. 3.
• Monroe County: 4.4% on Oct. 24; 3.8% on Oct. 17; and 8.1% on Sept. 3.
• Randolph County: 2.5% on Oct. 24; 5.1% on Oct. 17; and 6.0% on Sept. 3.
• St. Clair County: 2.1% on Oct. 24; 2.4% on Oct. 17; and 6.4% on Sept. 3.
• Washington County: 3.1% on Oct. 24; 2.1% on Oct. 17; and 10.9% on Sept. 3.

Region 4’s ICU bed availability made a sizable jump from 29% last week to 34% on Wednesday, according to state data. It was at 21% in early September; by contrast, the ICU bed availability has remained at 30% or higher since Oct. 18.