According to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, all regions throughout the state have seen a drop in positivity rates for the coronavirus.
As of Thursday, COVID-19 metrics showed positvity rates falling across the state, but hospital admissions increasing or remaining high in many regions.
Region 1, located in northwestern Illinois, reported a 17.1% positvity rate as of Thursday, which is a decrease from their peak at 20.9% about one week prior.
Seeing a slow and steady decrease, Region 2 dropped 1% in a single day, sitting at a 15.1% positvity rate as of Thursday, latest data showed.
Regions 3, 4 and 5 all saw lower positivity rates Thursday than days prior, according to IDPH data. Region 5 recorded the lowest of the three at 12.7%.
Without the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Region 6 reported a positivity rate of 14%, which is down 0.5% from one day prior. However, with data from the rapid saliva test from the university, Region 6 would have a 5.5% rate, which is the lowest in the state.
In Champaign county alone, health officials calculated the positvity rate to be just 2% with the saliva test, but reaching 9.7% when not using the university's data.
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Regions 7, 8 and 9 are each comprised of just two counties, all of which have seen a decrease in positvity rates over the past week, according to IDPH data. However, Region 7 recorded the highest rate in the state Thursday at 19.8%.
Cook County, not including Chicago's city limits, makes up the entirely of Region 10, which has seen a drop in positvity rates as of Thursday, reporting 14.9%. Region 11 solely includes the city of Chicago, which has seen a slow and steady decrease of rates to 14.3%, latest data showed.
Hospitalizations, however, are high in areas close to Chicago and within the city itself. Regions 2, 8, 10 and 11 have reported the highest numbers of hospital admissions ranging between 56 and 117, IDPH data showed.
Regions 3, 6, 7 and 9 have each seen a decrease in hospitalizations, according to the latest metrics, though numbers had been increasing throughout the month.
Three Illinois regions had been seeing rising hospital admissions during November, but data showed 1, 4 and 5 have remained steady over the past week.
Six regions have all dropped below the 20% availability threshold set by the state for hospital beds, ICU beds or both. IDPH reported that some are sitting on the cusp of dropping "too low."
For a full list of coronavirus metrics and counties in each region, click here.
