The nation’s top doctor is warning that the holiday weekend could make the current coronavirus surge even worse. Sandra Torres has details on what that might look like in Illinois and what health officials want the public to do.
All of Illinois' 11 health care regions remain under Tier 3 coronavirus mitigations.
Here's a look at where key metrics like positivity rate and hospital availability stand in each region.
Positivity rates are calculated with a three-day lag, meaning that the latest data availability is from Friday, while all hospitalization data is updated on a daily basis.
Region 1 (Northwest Illinois):
Region 1's positivity rate was at 15% on Friday following days of declines, though it remains over the 12% threshold to relax mitigations.
Hospital bed availability was at 27.3%, while ICU bed availability was at 22.5% - both over the 20% threshold. The region has also seen 15 days of incremental decreases in the 7-day rolling average number of coronavirus patients hospitalized.
Region 2 (West-Central Illinois):
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The region's positivity rate was at 13.1% on Nov. 17 after several days of declines.
About 25.5% of hospital beds remain available in the region, while 19.7% of ICU beds are available - dropping below the 20% threshold on Thursday.
Region 3 (Western Illinois):
This region, which includes Springfield, has remained below the 12% positivity rate threshold since dropping to 11.9% on Nov. 24. That figure fell to 11.2% on Nov. 27.
But ICU bed availability remained low as of Sunday, with just 14.4% of ICU beds available. About 25.8% of medical beds remained available, while hospitalizations have decreased each of the previous four days.
Region 4 (Southwest Illinois):
Region 4 was at 14% as of Nov. 27, with both ICU and medical bed availability below the 20% threshold for several days. Medical bed availability was at 15.8%, below the threshold since Nov. 16, and ICU availability was at 18.3%, dropping below 20% on Nov. 23.
Region 5 (Southern Illinois):
The positivity rate in this region was at 12.1% as of Nov. 27, just over the threshold.
Hospital bed availability in Region 5 was at 37.6% while ICU bed availability was below the threshold at 15.9%. Average hospital admissions have decreased slightly for the last two days after 25 days of increases.
Region 6 (East-Central Illinois):
The region's positivity rate dropped below 12% on Friday for the first time since Nov. 7, hitting 11.7%.
Hospital bed availability was at 32.2% while ICU availability was at 28.3% - both over the 20% threshold.
Region 7 (Will, Kankakee counties):
This region's positivity rate has increased for the past two days, climbing back up to 17.4% on Friday after days of declines.
Hospitalizations have decreased for the past five consecutive days, but both ICU and medical bed availability have remained below the 20% threshold for several weeks: 19.8% for medical beds and 18.9% of ICU beds.
Region 8 (DuPage, Kane counties):
The region’s positivity rate has fallen since mid-November, sitting at 13.1% on Nov. 27.
ICU bed availability was at 24% while medical bed availability was at 22.2%. Hospitalizations have also fallen for the past seven consecutive days.
Region 9 (McHenry, Lake counties):
The region’s positivity rate went up on Nov. 27 to 12.8% after steadily declining for several days. Medical bed availability also dropped on Nov. 29 to below the 20% threshold, sitting at 19.9% while ICU bed availability was at 25.7%.
Hospitalizations have increased on average over the last two days after falling for more than a week straight.
Region 10 (Suburban Cook County):
Region 10's positivity rate was at 12.6% as of Nov. 27. ICU bed availability was at 20.7% as of Nov. 29 and medical bed availability was at 25.3%. Hospitalizations have fallen for the past four out five days.
Region 11 (Chicago):
Chicago’s positivity rate was at 11.7% on Nov. 27, just under the 12% threshold after falling for several days. ICU bed availability was at 25.8% on Nov. 29 and medical bed availability was at 24.5%, with the rolling average number of hospitalizations declining for the past four days in a row.
