As Illinois sees rapid gains in new cases, it is also seeing a surge in newly-hospitalized coronavirus patients, with more residents seeking emergency medical care than at any point so far this year.
According to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, there are currently 3,960 patients hospitalized because of COVID in the state. That number marks the highest number of hospitalizations that the state has seen since Dec. 29, 2020, IDPH says.
As of Monday, approximately 21% of the state’s hospital beds are currently open, but that availability is being eaten into as COVID hospitalizations have increased by more than 50% so far this month.
The number of critically-ill COVID patients is also on the site. According to state officials, 811 COVID patients are currently in intensive care unit beds, the most the state has seen since Jan. 5 of this year.
Approximately 12% of the state’s ICU beds are currently open, according to health officials.
Several Illinois health care regions currently have ICU bed availability in the single-digits, including in Region 7. That region, comprised of Will and Kankakee counties, has just seven of its 133 ICU beds currently available due to the increases in COVID patients.
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In Region 5, comprised of 20 counties in the southern tip of Illinois, there are seven ICU beds available out of 77. In Region 6, a section of Illinois that includes Champaign, 14 of 151 beds are currently available for patients.
This news comes as COVID cases continue to hit new high watermarks in 2021. According to the IDPH, there were more than 12,300 new COVID cases reported in the last 24 hours, making it the single-highest daily jump in cases during the entirety of 2021.
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The state is now averaging more than 10,000 new COVID cases per day, the most it has seen since the throes of the fall case surge in Nov. 2020.
