New COVID-19 cases climb in St. Clair County as hospital bed availability falls

Hospital beds in St. Clair County are filling up with COVID patients, officials said during Wednesday’s weekly briefing.

As of Wednesday afternoon, health officials in St. Clair County reported 90 patients in the county hospitalized due to COVID symptoms. The previous high total was 125 in early January, according to St. Clair County Board chairman Mark Kern.

“The hospitals in St. Clair County are getting very close to being full,” Kern said. “We know there are people currently who are waiting to get into ICU. They’re in the emergency room. These are beds that are available right now but they’re slowly getting to a point where you’re not going to have capacity. So we’ve got to stem this tide.”

The surge of new cases isn’t allowing much respite for fatigued healthcare workers, said St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons.

“These hospitals, the first responders, are not only treating people with symptoms of COVID,” he said. “They’re treating auto accidents, they’re treating heart attacks, diabetics that need beds in these hospitals. We don’t want to get back to where we were a year ago ... our ER staffs, our nursing staffs, everybody is maxed, they are still fatigued.”

With numbers spiking, St. Clair County Health Department Director Myla Blandford, Kern and Simmons all continued to stress vaccination and following other COVID-related safety protocols.

“That is the best tool we have in our tool belt. We keep saying that. Get vaccinated. Get boostered once your eligible,” Blandford said.

Simmons said he is aware of individuals who have been fully vaccinated or fully vaccinated and boosted, but still contracted COVID.

“Yes, there is nothing 100%. But, probably, the person that you know that got it, didn’t get a severe case of it. Had they not been vaccinated, boostered, the story could have been a little bit different,” he said.

St. Clair County COVID data

Overall, as noted, St. Clair County continued to see high COVID-19 case totals for the week of Dec. 23-29, while deaths decreased sharply and hospitalizations spiked.

Health officials announced 1,552 new COVID-19 cases the past week during Wednesday’s briefing. That number is up from the 1,050 cases reported the week of Dec. 16-22. There were 611 cases reported the week of Nov. 25-Dec. 1.

The county announced one new death — a woman in her 60s with underlying health conditions — after reporting 10 new deaths from Dec. 16-22.

Hospitalization numbers in St. Clair County increased as well, from 66 last week to 90 this week as reported above. The number of patients on ventilators also jumped from four to nine.

Overall, the county now has 47,313 cases — including 6,292 the past six weeks — and 597 deaths since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, all 27 of the county’s ZIP codes reported case increases from last week.

“Big numbers,” Kern said. “I think the big message is if you haven’t been vaccinated, get vaccinated. Get your booster. Wash your hands. Wear a mask. Try to stay in social settings that are somewhat smaller in a crowd that you know the people you’re dealing with and you know their status. These numbers are really skyrocketing right now.”

St. Clair County health officials also continue to see higher case numbers among the younger population, with decreases from last week noted:

• 62% of current positive cases are under 40, down from 64% last week.
• 26% of current positive cases are under 20, down from 33% last week.
• 12% of current positive cases are under 10, down from 18% last week.

COVID still hitting unvaccinated people hardest

The latest data from local medical facilities continues to show unvaccinated people stand a higher chance of being hospitalized than vaccinated people, if they catch the COVID-19 virus.

Blandford presented the weekly graphic from Touchette Regional Hospital, Memorial Hospital and HSHS St. Elizabeth’s hospital breaking down overall hospitalizations, ICU patients and those on ventilators among vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

Here are the results:

• Hospitalizations: 90 people total hospitalized, with 69 of them unvaccinated. Last week, 66 people were hospitalized, with 53 of them unvaccinated.
• ICU: 17 individuals total in the ICU, with 14 of them unvaccinated. Last week, 11 people were in the ICU, with seven of them unvaccinated.
• Ventilators: Nine individuals total on a ventilator, with seven of them unvaccinated. Last week, four patients were on a ventilator, with three of them unvaccinated.

Madison County, Region 4 hospital figures

Since last reporting data for Madison County on Dec. 22, the latest figures show an increase of 1,509 cases and eight new deaths from the past week.

Overall, as of Wednesday, Madison County had reported 47,222 cases and 649 deaths since the pandemic began.

Also, the Madison County Health Department on Wednesday reported 76 patients hospitalized and 15 people on ventilators. The hospitalization numbers rose from 69 since the BND last reported Madison County’s data Dec. 22, while the number of people on ventilators increased from nine to 15

The health department recently announced on its Facebook page it will provide data updates Monday through Friday moving forward.

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

Regionally, the number of patients hospitalized saw a sizable increase, from 160 last week to 199 this week, county officials reported Wednesday, with the number of people on a ventilator also jumping significantly from 14 to 25.

Where to get vaccinated in St. Clair County

The St. Clair County Health Department’s location at 330 W. Main St. remains open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays for vaccinations.

All three vaccines — Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna — are offered every day there for anyone 12 and older. Appointments are recommended but not required. Flu vaccines also are now available at this location. People can schedule an appointment at www.co.st-clair.il.us/departments/health-department or by phone at 618-233-7703.

They will be closed Friday-Saturday for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Additionally, the health department is offering Pfizer vaccine clinics for children age 5-11 at the department headquarters, 19 Public Square, Belleville.

The clinics take place in the evenings Monday-Wednesday and some select Saturdays, Blandford noted. People should call 618-825-4447 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday to make an appointment or visit https://www.co.st-clair.il.us/departments/health-department to register. Appointments are required. People also can receive their flu vaccine here.

Various pediatric physician offices, Walgreens and CVS are offering the shots for young people, health officials said recently.

Additionally, people can get tested or vaccinated at the St. Clair Square site. Previously open four days a week, the site now will be open six days a week — from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

According to Blandford, vaccine for people 12 and older is only offered Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and all three — Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — are available. However, the site does not provide vaccine for the 5-11 age group.

Long lines at St. Clair Square testing site

The same day it was announced the St. Clair Square site would expand hours of operation to six days a week, the location saw tremendously long lines.

A BND reporter said he had been in line for 4 hours and 15 minutes and still had not gotten a test. All of the “hundreds of cars” that were behind him in line before the facility closed at 4 p.m. would receive tests, he confirmed with site operators.

Another BND reporter waited 30 minutes before being told they would not serve anyone else.