Illinois Department of Public Health

Illinois' Top Doctor Says State is ‘Not at the Peak' of Second Coronavirus Wave Yet

Here is the hospitalization data for each region

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Illinois' top doctor warned Friday that hospitalization numbers look concerning as the state has not yet hit the peak of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike explained that she views Regions 7 through 11 differently than Regions 1 through 6 in terms of their handling of the coronavirus during the first wave in the spring.

Ezike said regions 7 through 11 hospitals saw COVID-19 worse than Regions 1 through 6 during the initial months of the pandemic. Now, however, 7 through 11 could be better prepared for seeing current numbers, she said.

In the second wave, Regions 1 through 6 are generally seeing hospitalization numbers equal to those during their peak of the first wave despite not even hitting the second peak yet.

Health officials expressed concern that should there be an immediate need for largely more hospital and ICU beds, hospitals may not be at a capacity to provide them.

As of Friday, here is where all the regions stand on COVID-19 metrics:

Region 1: 31% bed capacity, 36% ICU bed capacity
13.2% positivity rate

Region 2: 34% bed capacity, 37% ICU bed capacity
8.5% positivity rate

Region 3: 31 bed capacity, 25% ICU bed capacity
9.2% positivity rate

Region 4: 26% bed capacity, 41% ICU bed capacity
8.7% positivity rate

Region 5: 44% bed capacity, 54% ICU bed capacity
9.7% positivity rate

Region 6: 31% bed capacity, 41% ICU bed capacity
8.6% positivity rate, or 2.9% positivity rate with the University of Illinois saliva test data

Region 7: 24% bed capacity, 26% ICU bed capacity
10.5% positivity rate

Region 8: 23% bed capacity, 40% ICU bed capacity
9.8% positivity rate

Region 9: 22% bed capacity, 49% ICU bed capacity
9.1% positivity rate

Region 10: 23% bed capacity, 28% ICU bed capacity
8.6% positivity rate

Region 11: 22% bed capacity, 29% ICU bed capacity
8.4% positivity rate

Hospitalizations increased again Friday, health officials said, with 3,092 patients currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 throughout the state. Of those patients, 673 are in intensive care units, while 288 are currently on ventilators.

Illinois health officials reported the state's highest number of daily coronavirus cases and tests of the entire coronavirus pandemic so far on Friday with nearly 7,000 cases and more than 95,000 tests, but the positivity rate continues to rise.

According to data released by IDPH, the state saw 6,943 new cases, a number higher than daily totals reported during the coronavirus peak earlier this year.

There were also an additional 36 deaths reported in the state Friday.

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