Southwest Illinois leaders tasked with reducing COVID-19 cases so state won’t ‘step in’
Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned metro-east leaders Wednesday that unless they were more successful in stemming the increase in new coronavirus cases, the state would have to step in.
The governor made an example of southwestern Illinois to warn other regions in the state that COVID-19 can increase exponentially “in the blink of an eye.”
“We are working with the local officials there to have them go in and impose mitigations locally because regions include a number of counties,” Pritzker said. “We don’t want any one single county to drive a whole region. For example, in this case, it’s several counties in that region.”
While St. Clair County has seen lower case numbers in the past few days, it reported a record 105 cases on Saturday. Madison County has seen gradually increasing numbers throughout July, as have Clinton and Monroe counties.
The metro-east region has seen increases in the positivity rate, or the number of coronavirus tests coming back positive, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The governor visited the region Tuesday to “sound the alarm.”
“It doesn’t take long at all to reverse all of our gains and for a trajectory of success to be turned on its head,” Pritzker said at a news conference in Chicago.
St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern said he received a call from Pritzker on Monday night about the increasing cases. The county consistently reports the highest number of cases along with Madison County in the metro-east, but Kern expressed hope that St. Clair County was moving in the right direction.
The positivity rate in St. Clair County has improved since April when it was roughly 16%, Kern said Tuesday at a news conference in Belleville. The average rate from July 4 to July 18 was 10.3%, well above the state’s threshold but still decreasing.
“We’re seeing a positivity rate that is moving in the right direction, we’re seeing hospitalizations moving in that same right direction. Today, once again, we don’t have anyone on a ventilator,” Kern said. “We seem to be seeing numbers moving in the right direction because the health department’s out there.”
County health officials have been conducting contact tracing to inform people if they were possibly exposed to the virus, which could help reduce the spread if those tested self-isolated. Officials also hope the rate of new cases will start to decline this week if they were a result of Fourth of July gatherings, said Herb Simmons, director of the county Emergency Management Agency.
But the only way to reduce case numbers is for the public to take wearing masks and social distancing seriously, Simmons said.
“We’re watching these numbers. When I say we are doing it 24-7, we are doing that,” Simmons said. “So, take a breath and let us continue to crunch those numbers. Your part of being part of the solution is ... wear the mask, wear the mask and watching the social distancing. If you do that, we’ve got this thing pretty well under control.”
In Clinton County, public health officials have asked at least 160 individuals to isolate after they went to large gatherings without wearing masks. Hundreds were exposed at those gatherings.
Monroe County has also seen record increases in July, with a 9.6% positivity rate as of July 11, and Sheriff Neal Rohlfing tested positive for the disease. In St. Clair County, city hall East St. Louis was forced to close because of a small outbreak among staff there.
Increasing cases
As of July 19, the metro-east reported 6.9% of tests came back positive over a week-long rolling average, bringing the region “dangerously close” to the 8% threshold that would automatically trigger restrictions, Pritzker said.
The positivity rate is lower than the July 17 report of 7.1%, according to the metrics.
State public health officials announced Wednesday 1,598 new confirmed cases of coronavirus statewide, the highest in the month of July. The number includes 23 additional deaths, for a total of 165,301 cases and 7,347 deaths since the pandemic began.
The governor announced thresholds last week that could trigger the return of some restrictions in 11 regions throughout Illinois, including the metro-east.
Criteria to bring restrictions back to the metro-east or other regions of the state:
- Three consecutive days averaging at or above an 8% positivity rate. This alone will trigger restrictions.
- Or increase in the seven-day rolling average of the region’s positivity rate for seven out of 10 days.
Plus one of the following:
- An increase in hospital admissions for a COVID-19-like illness for seven days.
- Intensive care unit capacity or medical/surgical bed capacity below 20%. In other words, a reduction in hospitals’ ability to handle a surge in patients.
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 1:47 PM.
