Illinois health officials will implement new coronavirus restrictions in three of the state’s healthcare regions this week, bringing the number of regions seeing the enhanced mitigations to seven of 11 total regions.
Additional mitigations take effect in a particular region if the area sees:
- Sustained increase in 7-day rolling average (7 out of 10 days) in the positivity rate and one of the following severity indicators:
- Sustained 7-day increase in hospital admissions for a COVID-19 like illness
- Reduction in hospital capacity threatening surge capabilities (ICU capacity or medical/surgical beds < 20%)
- OR three consecutive days averaging ≥ 8% positivity rate
Regions 1, 5, 7 and 8 were already under enhanced restrictions, while mitigations will soon take effect in suburban Cook County in Region 10, Region 4 in southwestern Illinois and Chicago in Region 11. Region 9 could potentially be heading in that direction after passing a key threshold on Monday.
Here are the metrics from regions where mitigations are in place or soon taking effect:
Region 1 (Northwest Illinois)
With even more stringent restrictions in place, Region 1, located in northwestern Illinois, is seeing the highest positivity rates in the state, with that number now standing at 12.5% as of Oct. 24, the last day for which data was available.
Local
Hospital bed availability is at 37% and ICU bed availability is at 42%.
Region 5 (Southern Illinois)
Located in far southern Illinois, this region had new restrictions put into effect Thursday, but its positivity rates are still slowly trending upward, sitting at 9.9% as of Oct. 24, the third consecutive day of increases.
The region has seen three days of hospital admission increases in the past week, with hospital availability at 47% and ICU bed availability at 54%.
Region 7 (Will, Kankakee Counties)
The seven-day rolling average positivity rate was 9.6% as of Oct. 24, marking eight days of increases since Oct. 15.
Hospital availability is at 26% and ICU bed availability is at 29%.
Region 8 (Kane, DuPage Counties)
This region's seven-day positivity rate has increased to 9.5% as of Oct. 24, and hospital admissions have gone up for six consecutive days.
Hospital availability is at 29% and ICU bed availability is at 43%
Region 4 (Southwestern Illinois)
This region, adjacent to St. Louis, will see enhanced mitigation rules go into effect this week, as the seven-day positivity rate has risen to 8.3% as of Oct. 24.
Another big concern in the area is hospital bed availability, with 28% of beds available for a potential surge in patients. ICU bed availability stands at 37%.
Region 10 (Cook County outside of Chicago)
The region's positivity rate is at 8% as of Oct. 24, having seen increases in seven of the past nine days.
Hospital bed availability is at 27% and ICU bed availability is at 33%.
Region 11 (Chicago)
Chicago's positivity rate, according to state health officials, was at 7.8% as of Oct. 24, which was the fourth consecutive day of increases and the eighth day of increases total in the previous 10.
The region also saw seven days of increases in hospital admissions in the last 10 days, according to IDPH, with hospital availability at 25% and ICU bed availability at 32%.
Here are the Illinois regions where positivity rates have moved toward the 8% threshold.
Region 2 (Northwestern/Central Illinois)
After hovering at 7% for three consecutive days, this region, which includes Peoria and parts of western Illinois, is now at a 7.5% seven-day positivity rate.
Hospital admissions in the region have largely stayed the same in recent days, with nearly 40% availability of both hospital beds and ICU beds.
Region 3 (Western Illinois)
This region, which includes Springfield and other cities in western Illinois, saw its positivity rate climb to 8% on Oct. 24, marking a fourth day of increases from 7.3% on Oct. 21.
The region’s ICU bed availability currently stands a 30% and hospital availability at 35%.
Region 9 (McHenry, Lake Counties)
The region's positivity rate was at 8.4% as of Oct. 24, its second day over the 8% threshold and the fourth consecutive day of increases.
Hospital bed capacity is at 40% while ICU bed capacity is at 50%.
There is just one Illinois region where metrics are not nearing the threshold for additional mitigations:
Region 6: (Central/Eastern Illinois)
This region, which has had numbers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign removed from its metrics, has the best positivity rate in the state, sitting at just 2.7%.
Hospital bed availability is at 43% and ICU bed availability is at 40%.
