With nearly 10,000 new coronavirus cases and more than 200 additional deaths reported Saturday, state health officials are keeping a close eye on COVID-19 metrics throughout Illinois.
As of Saturday, no region in the state is hitting the metrics that would allow it to be considered to move out of Tier 3 mitigations. Region 1, located in western Illinois, is hitting hospitalization numbers that would be required under the state’s coronavirus plan, but its posivitity rate remains too high.
In Region 6, located around Champaign, hospitalization rates and hospital bed availability are within the thresholds, but the positivity rate is still just under 13%, too high to allow the region to move out of Tier 3 mitigations.
In order for a region to loosen coronavirus restrictions, the following criteria need to be met:
-A positivity rate of 12% or lower for three consecutive days
-Hospital bed availability and ICU bed availability of 20% or greater for three consecutive days
-A decline in hospitalizations on at least seven days in a 10-day span.
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Here is where things stand in each of Illinois’ healthcare regions:
Region 1 (Northwest Illinois):
ICU bed (22.2%) and hospital bed availability (26%) both remain above the 20% threshold, and hospitalizations have declined each of the past 10 days. The only metric the region isn’t hitting its marks in is the positivity rate, which has steadied at 15.3% in recent days.
Region 2 (West-Central Illinois):
The positivity rate in the region, which had been on the way down, is now back on the upswing, rising to 13.9% on Dec. 2. The ICU bed availability in the region is continuing to fall, dropping to 13.2%, but hospital bed availability has roughly stabilized, sitting at 21.6%. The overall number of patients is continuing to decline, going down eight of the last 10 days.
Region 3 (Western Illinois):
The positivity rate has dropped below 12%, but it’s bumping back up against the threshold now, sitting at 11.8% for two straight days. ICU bed availability is at 10.4%, but hospital bed availability is on the rise, currently at 22.6%, and hospitalizations have declined for nine consecutive days.
Region 4 (Southwest Illinois):
The positivity rate in this region has roughly stabilized, sitting at 14.2% as of Dec. 2. While ICU bed and hospital bed availability has increased slightly, both numbers remain below the key threshold of 20%, with ICU availability at 18% and hospital bed availability at 14.3%. Hospitalizations have decreased slightly in recent days.
Region 5 (Southern Illinois):
Positivity rates have stayed at 13% for three straight days, while hospital bed availability has also remained largely steady, sitting at 36.5%. ICU bed availability is now at 19.9% and on the way up after it bottomed out earlier in the week. Hospitalizations have decreased five times in the last seven days.
Region 6 (East-Central Illinois):
The positivity rate in the region is on the rise, moving up to 12.5% on Dec. 2. Hospitalizations are still declining, albeit slowly. ICU bed availability has dropped to 24%, the lowest its been in recent times, but overall hospital bed availability has risen to 27.3% after dropping to 23.8% earlier in the week.
Region 7 (Will, Kankakee counties):
Hospitalizations have decreased for 10 consecutive days in the region, while hospital bed and ICU bed availability has risen in recent days. The hospital bed rate is at 18.5%, still below threshold, but the ICU bed availability is at 22.8%. Positivity rates have remained steady after a slow decline, currently sitting at 16.8%.
Region 8 (Kane, DuPage counties):
After coming close to dropping below 12%, positivity rates have built back up to 13.1%. ICU bed availability is at 21.3% in the region, while hospital bed availability has dropped to 13.4%, representing a continuing decline in that number. Hospitalizations have declined for 10 consecutive days, however.
Region 9 (McHenry, Lake counties):
The positivity rate in this region has stayed very consistent in recent days, holding steady at 12.8% on Dec. 2. Hospital bed availability has continued to drop to 15.7%, while ICU bed availability has increased slightly to 23.9%. Hospitalization rates have remained largely consistent, with 332 patients hospitalized due to COVID in the region.
Region 10 (Suburban Cook County):
Over the last 10 days, hospitalization rates have dropped by more than 100 patients, but ICU bed (16.2%) and hospital bed availability (19.3%) have been slow to rise, although both are on a slight upward trend in the last two days. The positivity rate, which came close to the 12% threshold earlier in the week, is on its way down again, dropping to 12.7% on Dec. 2.
Region 11 (Chicago):
After dropping to 11.5%, the positivity rate has risen back above the 12% threshold, rising to 12.5% on Dec. 2. Hospital bed availability (17.4%) and ICU bed availability (19.2%) are both below the 20% threshold, with recent drops in those numbers seemingly steadying. Hospitalizations have also remained largely steady, with a decline of approximately 45 patients in the last 10 days.
