Illinois officials announced additional COVID-19 mitigations Thursday, citing a surge in hospitalizations that has led intensive care unit beds to "run out" across the state.
"The ICU beds have run out, particularly in southern Illinois, and parts of central Illinois, where the vaccination rates are the lowest," Illinois Department of Public Health Dr. Ngozi Ezike said Thursday. "In Region Five, southern Illinois, the least vaccinated region of the state, there was only one ICU bed available on Tuesday."
Ezike noted that the ICU beds are not only for COVID patients, but also need to be available for people in need of medical care from other emergency situations.
"These hospitalizations are preventable," Ezike added. "And vaccination is our tool."
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According to the latest figures from IDPH, in the state’s Region 5, located in the far southern tip of Illinois, there are six ICU beds available out of the 89 that the region possesses.
Hospital bed availability has plummeted in that time, and the region’s positivity rate on COVID tests has increased from 8.1% on July 23 to 10.6% as of Aug. 23, the last date for which data is available.
Other regions are dealing with ICU bed availability issues as well. In Region 1, located in the northwestern corner of the state, there are currently 18 beds available out of 171 total ICU beds. In Region 4, located next to St. Louis in the southwestern part of Illinois, 25 ICU beds are available, and in Region 6, comprised of Champaign County and several other large counties, 28 ICU beds are available out of 143.
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According to IDPH, at least 37 counties in Illinois are at a “warning level” for intensive care unit bed availabilities, meaning that fewer than 20% of the ICU beds in those counties are available.
That news comes as the state continues to see high transmission rates of COVID-19. According to the latest data from the CDC, 101 of Illinois’ 102 counties are seeing “high levels” of transmission, meaning that they are reporting more than 100 new cases of COVID per 100,000 residents each week.
Here is a region-by-region breakdown of COVID metrics as of Thursday:
Region 1 (Northwest Illinois)
Positivity Rate: 6.6% (increasing)
ICU Bed Availability: 13% (steady)
Hospitalization Rates: 6/10 days increasing
Region 2 (West-Central Illinois)
Positivity Rate: 6.5% (increasing)
ICU Bed Availability: 20% (decreasing)
Hospitalization Rates: 10/10 days increasing
Region 3 (West Illinois)
Positivity Rate: 6% (decreasing)
ICU Bed Availability: 15% (steady)
Hospitalization Rates: 8/10 days increasing
Region 4 (Southwest Illinois)
Positivity Rate: 8.5% (decreasing)
ICU Bed Availability: 22% (steady)
Hospitalization Rates: 8/10 days increasing
Region 5 (South Illinois)
Positivity Rate: 10.6% (decreasing)
ICU Bed Availability: 4% (steady)
Hospitalization Rates: 10/10 days increasing
Region 6 (East-Central Illinois)
Positivity Rate: 7.8% (decreasing)
ICU Bed Availability: 21% (decreasing)
Hospitalization Rates: 8/10 days increasing
Region 7 (Will, Kankakee Counties)
Positivity Rate: 7.1% (increasing)
ICU Bed Availability: 24% (steady)
Hospitalization Rates: 8/10 days increasing
Region 8 (Kane, DuPage Counties)
Positivity Rate: 5.7% (decreasing)
ICU Bed Availability: 22% (steady)
Hospitalization Rates: 10/10 days increasing
Region 9 (McHenry, Lake Counties)
Positivity Rate: 5.6% (decreasing)
ICU Bed Availability: 15% (steady)
Hospitalization Rates: 8/10 days increasing
Region 10 (Suburban Cook County)
Positivity Rate: 4.7% (increasing)
ICU Bed Availability: 17% (decreasing)
Hospitalization Rates: 9/10 days increasing
Region 11 (Chicago)
Positivity Rate: 4.1% (decreasing)
ICU Bed Availability: 17% (decreasing)
Hospitalization Rates: 10/10 days increasing
