COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths increase in St. Clair County. Here are details

With COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations reaching unprecedented levels in St. Clair County, health officials continue encouraging people to get vaccinated and tested.

County health officials reported a weekly and seven-day positivity rate of 28.9% during Wednesday’s weekly briefing, the highest since the Illinois Department of Public Health first started tracking data in June 2020.

“We don’t know when this peak is going to happen,” St. Clair County Health Department Director Myla Blandford said during the briefing. “We know we’re in a surge and this could go on for several weeks. Again, it is the best tool that we have in our toolbelt for you to be vaccinated and boostered when you’re eligible.”

Meanwhile, according to the data the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Wednesday, a little more than 53% (139,350) of St. Clair County residents are fully vaccinated and nearly 60% (155,525) have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

“It’s never too late to get vaccinated. We’re going to be in this for the long haul. So you really need to get vaccinated now,” St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern said.

St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons, meanwhile, encouraged people to take advantage of the free testing site at St. Clair Square if they are not feeling well or think they’ve been exposed to someone with COVID. Blandford also noted the location offers vaccines four days a week.

“I know some people are saying you’ve got to go and wait two or three hours,” Simmons said. “But how can you put a measure on time when you’re going to find out for sure if you’ve been exposed, if you’ve infected somebody. Go spend whatever that time limit is. They’re doing the best they can out there. We’re trying to do everything we can to make it as easy and simplified for everybody to take advantage of something that’s going to help you and your family, your friends.”

Simmons also urged vaccination.

“Tell your family, your friends if they haven’t been vaccinated yet, try to explain to them that’s the most important thing we can do right now,” Simmons said. “I don’t know anybody who has grown extra fingers, heads or whatever from the vaccine. I don’t want to hear all that. What I want to hear is ‘How are we going to help get these numbers back down to where we can get back to some sense of normal?’”

St. Clair County COVID data

Overall, as noted, St. Clair County continued to see high COVID-19 case totals for the week of Jan. 6-12, while deaths increased sharply and hospitalizations continued to spike.

Health officials announced 5,334 new COVID-19 cases the past week in St. Clair County. That number is up from the 4,249 cases reported from Dec. 30-Jan. 5; the 1,552 cases reported the week of Dec. 23-29; the 1,050 cases reported the week of Dec. 16-22; and the 1,048 cases reported the week of Dec. 9-15.

Additionally, the county announced 19 new deaths — a woman in her 40s, three women in their 60s, five men in their 60s, three women in their 70s, two men in their 70s, two women in their 80s, a man in his 80s and two men in their 90s, all with unknown health conditions — after reporting 11 new deaths from Dec. 30-Jan. 5.

“These are the biggest numbers we’ve ever seen,” Kern said. “I think the Christmas spike, the holidays are contributing.”

Hospitalization numbers in St. Clair County increased as well, from 128 last week to 136 this week. The number of patients on ventilators dropped from 12 to five.

“We know that omicron is out there,” Blandford said. “We also know that a lot of the hospitals have reduced staffing. If you are visiting the ER, please keep in mind that those folks have been working long hours for a long period of time, and they’re trying their best to meet everybody’s needs.”

Overall, the county now has 56,896 cases — including 15,875 the past eight weeks — and 627 deaths since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, all 27 of the county’s ZIP codes again reported case increases from last week.

Also, St. Clair County health officials continue to see high case numbers among the younger population, with decreases and increases from last week noted:

• 59% of current positive cases are under 40, down slightly from 59.5% last week.
• 14.3% of current positive cases are under 20, down from 19% last week.
• 9% of current positive cases are under 10, up from 7% 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: 136 people total hospitalized, with 95 of them unvaccinated. Last week, 128 people were hospitalized, with 82 of them unvaccinated.
• ICU: 15 individuals total in the ICU, with nine of them unvaccinated. Last week, 18 people were in the ICU, with 13 of them unvaccinated.
• Ventilators: Five people total on a ventilator, with all five of them unvaccinated. Last week, 12 patients were on a ventilator, with nine of them unvaccinated.

Madison County, Region 4 hospital figures

Since last reporting data for Madison County on Jan. 5, the latest figures show an increase of 6,298 cases and 11 new deaths from the past week.

Overall, as of Wednesday, Madison County had reported 57,154 cases and 665 deaths since the pandemic began.

Also, the Madison County Health Department on Wednesday reported 125 patients hospitalized and 13 people on ventilators. The hospitalization numbers rose from 96 since the BND last reported Madison County’s data Jan. 5, while the number of people on ventilators increased from 11.

Of note, the health department recently announced on its Facebook page it will provide data updates Mondays-Fridays 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 another sizable increase, from 249 last week to 285 this week, county officials reported Wednesday, with the number of people on a ventilator dropping from 23 to 19.

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.

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.

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.

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

What Ezike, Pritzker are saying

In an Illinois COVID-19 update Wednesday, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, told reporters the state was seeing record-high numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Just 9% of intensive care unit beds were available in Illinois as of Wednesday, according to Ezike.

“We have never had this many COVID patients in the hospital at any point in the pandemic, not in spring of 2020, not in the winter of 2020,” Ezike said. “This is the absolute highest number, and not just by a couple. Our previous totals have been smashed. The previous totals of COVID (patients) in the hospital were 6,175 and we are at over 7,100, so we have significantly passed all previous records.”

Ezike said hospitals are asking for help as they try to treat more patients while experiencing staff shortages.“I was on a call with all the chief medical officers of the hospitals across the state today. They are all crying the same thing,” Ezike said. “They all need help.

“They have a significant number of staff that have left the profession because of the exhaustion and the stress and the trauma that they’ve endured over the last two years. We have a large number of people that are quarantining or actively infected themselves, so that decreases the total number of beds that are even available, because just having a bed for someone to lie on and you don’t have the staff does not count as a bed that you can use.”

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state is deploying over 2,000 health care workers to help hospitals during the COVID-19 surge, with 892 of them already in the field.

The governor did not provide specifics about where the workers are being deployed as of Wednesday afternoon.

“From Chicago to Marion, from East St. Louis to Rockford, medical professionals and staff are caring for our family members, for our neighbors, our friends in this hour of need. They need help, and I’m doing everything that I can to support them as they tackle this latest surge,” Pritzker said.

This story was originally published January 13, 2022 at 5:00 AM.