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 12.9% on Dec. 9. The region’s hospital bed availability continues to rise (26.8%) and its hospitalizations continue to decrease, but ICU bed availability (19.4%) remains under the threshold.
Region 2 (West-Central Illinois):
The region’s positivity rate dropped to 12.1% on Dec. 9, but the region’s ICU bed availability (14.6%) is still well below the threshold required to move forward from Tier 3 mitigations. The region currently has 20.9% hospital bed availability, but has seen increases in hospitalizations each of the last three days.
Region 3 (West Illinois):
The region’s positivity rate has continued to plummet, dropping to 9.3%, and the region is also seeing an uptick in hospital bed availability (22.7%) 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 remains at 12.4%.
Region 4 (Southwest Illinois):
While the positivity rate in this region dropped to 14%, the region is seeing downturns in other key metrics, including hospital bed availability (13%) and ICU bed availability (14.5%) as well. After a long line of decreases in hospitalizations, that number ticked upward on Saturday.
Region 5 (South Illinois):
The region’s positivity rate dropped to 12.1% on Dec. 9, but officials are eying decreases in hospital bed availability (30.8%) and ICU bed availability (15.8%) in the region. Even still, hospitalizations overall have decreased on eight of the last 10 days.
Region 6 (East-Central Illinois):
As of Saturday, Region 6 is officially hitting all metrics to move forward from Tier 3 mitigations, with a 10.8% positivity rate, ICU and hospital bed availability of greater than 20% and eight days of hospitalization decreases in the last 10 days. It is unknown whether the region will be allowed to move forward however, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that IDPH will need to make a final determination despite the region hitting the metrics.
Region 7 (Will, Kankakee counties):
Hospitalizations have decreased each of the last 10 days in this region, but after a rapid ascent in the availability of ICU and hospital beds, the region is seeing sharp decreases in both, with 23.5% of ICU beds available and 18.9% of hospital beds available. The positivity rate has flattened at 14.2%.
Region 8 (DuPage, Kane counties):
The positivity rate in this region has dropped to 13.3%, while ICU bed availability (16.6%) and hospital bed availability (13.3%) both increased on Saturday. The region has seen hospitalizations decrease each of the last 10 days.
Region 9 (McHenry, Lake counties):
This region could potentially hit the thresholds required to move back from Tier 3 mitigations, as the region hit 12% positivity rate on Dec. 9. The region has seen increases in ICU bed (28.4%) and hospital bed (23.2%) availability in recent days, and has seen decreases in hospitalizations each of the last 10 days.
Region 10 (Suburban Cook County):
Despite seeing decreases in hospitalizations each of the last 10 days, the region is seeing slight increases in positivity rates (13.1%). ICU bed (16.6%) and hospital bed (18%) availability have both been largely steady in the last four days, with both remaining slightly below the 20% threshold.
Region 11 (Chicago):
The region’s hospitalizations continue to decline, but the hospital bed (18.1%) and ICU bed (20.1%) availability both have been very steady in recent days, barely moving from levels they were at 10 days ago, according to IDPH data. The region’s positivity rate did drop to 12.3% on Dec. 9.
