St. Clair, 72 other Illinois counties at elevated COVID community levels. What to know
The number of Illinois counties at elevated COVID-19 community levels jumped from 54 to 73 in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest update Thursday.
St. Clair, Monroe, Clinton and more counties moved from a low to a medium level. Washington and Randolph counties went from low to high levels. St. Louis County and St. Louis City moved to high levels from medium.
Along with Washington and Randolph, Perry, Marion, Franklin, Jersey and more counties are at high level, for a total of 28. The Illinois Department of Public Health has reported 16,281 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in the state for the week ending Jan. 1, along with 20 deaths.
The CDC’s COVID-19 community levels are updated Thursdays and based on metrics from the past seven days, including new hospital admissions per 100,000 people, average percent of staffed, inpatient beds occupied by COVID patients and new cases per 100,000 people.
The federal agency advises people in high community level areas to wear a mask indoors and on public transportation, and people at a higher risk of severe illness should consider precautions in medium-level areas.
In a Jan. 6 statement, IDPH officials urged the public to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza as transmission of respiratory viruses increases.
“As we enter the new year, IDPH continues to closely monitor levels of COVID-19, the flu, and other respiratory illness in communities throughout Illinois,” IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in the statement. “After the holidays, we are once again experiencing a rise in counties at elevated COVID-19 community levels, with 28 currently at High Level. As we monitor emerging variants, including a new more transmissible strain spreading in the northeastern U.S., I continue to recommend our residents take steps to prevent the spread of infection, protect those most vulnerable to serious illness, and preserve our hospital capacity.”
It is not too late to get your COVID-19 bivalent booster or annual flu shot, Vohra continued, and those who are sick should stay home when possible and reach out to their health care provider about potential treatments.
COVID-19 in St. Clair County, across Illinois
The CDC reports St. Clair County’s weekly case rate is at 112.44 per 100,000 people as of Jan. 4, down 2.34% from the previous week. The rate of new COVID-19 hospital admissions has increased, however, with 13.7 patients admitted per 100,000 individuals, up from 9.1 last week.
The portion of staffed inpatient beds in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19 has stayed the same week to week at 7%. Countywide, 14% of intensive care unit beds are available.
Across Illinois, the ICU availability rate is at 15%. The statewide weekly case rate is 127.8 per 100,000 people.
Two COVID-19 deaths were reported in St. Clair County Dec. 31, and no new deaths were reported as of Jan. 6, according to IDPH. The seven-day rolling number of hospital admissions is two in St. Clair County, IDPH reports.
Test positivity was at 12.09% in St. Clair County as of Jan. 2, according to the CDC, up slightly from the previous week. The rate of tests performed through Dec. 29 dropped by 60.19%.
IDPH reported as of Thursday night, 1,766 individuals were hospitalized with COVID-19, including 233 patients in ICUs and 77 on ventilators.
Vaccination and testing information is available online in St. Clair County.
Note: Some CDC data, such as test positivity rates, the number of tests performed and weekly case rate, update on different days. IDPH data and CDC data may not update at the same time, so metrics may vary across agencies.
This story was originally published January 8, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
