Several Illinois healthcare regions that had seen progress in their coronavirus metrics in recent days have taken steps back, but a few are still advancing toward a potential rollback of Tier 3 coronavirus mitigation rules.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has indicated that the state may not allow regions to roll back mitigations due to concerns of holiday-related spikes in COVID-19 numbers, but Region 6 in east-central Illinois has met all three criteria to move forward, leaving the state to make an interesting decision on whether to pull back on restrictions.
To roll back Tier 3 mitigations, the following criteria must be met:
-A region’s positivity rate must be at or below 12% for three consecutive days.
-A region’s hospital bed and ICU bed availability must exceed 20% for three consecutive days.
-A region’s hospitalizations must have decreased on seven of the preceding 10 days.
Here is where things stand in Illinois’ healthcare regions:
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Region 1 (Northwest Illinois):
The region has seen its positivity rate rapidly decline in recent days, dropping to 12.1% on Dec. 10. The region’s hospital bed availability continues to rise (28.2%) and its hospitalizations continue to decrease, but ICU bed availability (18.6%) remains under the threshold.
Region 2 (West-Central Illinois):
The region’s positivity rate dropped to 11.6% on Dec. 10, as the region’s ICU bed availability (15.2%) is still well below the threshold required to move forward from Tier 3 mitigations. The region currently has 21.3% hospital bed availability and has seen increases in hospitalizations each of the last four days.
Region 3 (West Illinois):
The region’s positivity rate has continued to plummet, dropping to 9.1%, and the region is also seeing an uptick in hospital bed availability (24.3%) as the area has recorded 10 straight days of decreases in hospitalizations. The lone area where the region is still falling short of moving forward from Tier 3 mitigations is its ICU bed availability, which increased to 15.5%.
Region 4 (Southwest Illinois):
While the positivity rate in this region dropped to 13.1%, the region saw a downturn in hospital bed availability (12.8%) and an increase in ICU bed availability (17.1%). After a long line of decreases in hospitalizations, that number ticked upward on Saturday and Sunday.
Region 5 (South Illinois):
The region’s positivity rate dropped to 11.4% on Dec. 10, as officials saw an increase in hospital bed availability (32.1%) and an decrease in ICU bed availability (14.2%) in the region. Even still, hospitalizations overall have decreased on nine of the last 10 days.
Region 6 (East-Central Illinois):
As of Sunday, Region 6 is officially hitting all metrics to move forward from Tier 3 mitigations, with a 10.5% positivity rate, ICU and hospital bed availability of greater than 20% and eight days of hospitalization decreases in the last 10 days. However, the region saw a slight increase in hospitalizations Saturday and Sunday. It is unknown whether Region 6 will be allowed to move forward thuogh, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that IDPH will need to make the final determination.
Region 7 (Will, Kankakee counties):
Hospitalizations have decreased each of the last 10 days in the region, with ICU bed availability also dropping to 19.1% Sunday. According to the latest IDPH data, hospital bed availability rose to 18.4% and the positivity rate flattened at 13.5%. Both ICU bed and hospital bed availability sits below the 20% threshold.
Region 8 (DuPage, Kane counties):
The positivity rate in this region has dropped to 12.7%, while ICU bed availability (19.1%) and hospital bed availability (15.6%) both increased on Sunday. The region has seen hospitalizations decrease nine of the last 10 days. only increasing Sunday by one.
Region 9 (McHenry, Lake counties):
Region 9 could potentially hit the thresholds required to move back from Tier 3 mitigations, as the region hit 11.9% positivity rate on Dec. 10. The region has seen increases in both ICU bed (30.5%) and hospital bed (23.5%) availability in recent days, along with decreases in hospitalizations for nine days.
Region 10 (Suburban Cook County):
Positivity rates dropped stlightly across the region Sunday, currently sitting at 13%. ICU bed (17.6%) and hospital bed (18.9%) availability have both increased over the last 24 hours, with both remaining slightly below the 20% threshold.
Region 11 (Chicago):
Region 11 was the only healthcare region to see an increase in positivity rates Dec. 10, rising to 12.5%. Though the region was seeing a steady decrease of hospitalizations over nine days, Chicago increased by two Sunday. Both ICU bed (19.4%) and hospital bed (18.4) availability have remained largely consistent in recent days, according to IDPH data.
