COVID-19 hospitalizations in Illinois at more than 1,800 for the first time since June

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,818 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 35 additional deaths Friday.

The seven-day rolling average of Illinois’ positivity rate increased to 3.8%. The state received the results of 71,599 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Friday afternoon.

Illinois now has seen 313,518 total cases of the virus and 8,945 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 6,177,379 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,812 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. That is the highest number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital since June 18. Of those, 395 were in intensive care units, and 153 were on ventilators.

Regional update: Additional restrictions can be placed on any of the state’s 11 health regions if the region sustains an increase in its average positivity rate for seven days out of a 10-day period.

A region may also become more restrictive if there is a seven-day increase in hospital admissions for COVID-19-related illness or a reduction in hospital medical/surgical beds or ICU capacity below 20%. If a region reports three consecutive days with greater than an 8% average positivity rate, additional infection mitigation will be considered through a tiered system of restriction guidelines offered by the IDPH.

The North Suburban region (McHenry and Lake counties) has seen six days of positivity increases and three days of hospital admission increases, an increase in both metrics. The region’s positivity rate increased to 5.8%. Currently, 38% of medical/surgical beds are available and 49% of ICU beds.

The West Suburban region (DuPage and Kane counties) has seen four days of positivity increases and three days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate increased to 5.1%. Currently, 28% of medical/surgical beds are available and 35% of ICU beds.

The South Suburban region (Will and Kankakee counties) has seen five days of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate decreased slightly to 5.5%. Currently, 29% of the region’s medical/surgical beds are available and 33% of ICU beds.

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) has seen four days of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases, a decrease in both metrics. The region’s positivity rate remained flat at 8.8%, still the highest rate of any of the state’s 11 regions. Currently, 36% of medical/surgical beds are available and 46% of ICU beds.

The North region (Region 1) is under additional COVID-19 mitigation measures from the IDPH as of Saturday, Oct. 3.

Within Region 1, the region turned in a single-day positivity rate of 12.0% for Oct. 6. IDPH regional data runs on a three-day lag. Winnebago County ran 49.6% of the region’s tests on that day and turned in a 12.2% positivity rate. For the same day, DeKalb County ran 18% of the region’s tests and turned in a 10.8% rate. Whiteside County ran 6.7% of the region’s tests and had a 17.6% positivity rate.

DeKalb County’s rolling seven-day average increased to 8.2%. It was 6.6% a week ago. Whiteside County’s rolling seven-day average increased to 11%. It was 9.2% a week ago.

The North-Central region (Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren and Woodford counties) has seen two days of positivity increases and four days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 5.0%. Currently, 36% of medical/surgical beds are available and 39% of ICU beds.

Chicago has seen three days of positivity increases and four days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate remained flat at 4.3%. Currently, 23% of medical/surgical beds are available and 30% of ICU beds.

Suburban Cook County has seen four days of positivity increases and six days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate increased to 5.0%. Currently, 23% of medical/surgical beds are available and 29% of ICU beds.

To see how other regions across the state are doing, see the full IDPH dashboard here.

Newly reported deaths include:

• Coles County: 1 female 90s

• Cook County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 2 males 70s, 2 female 80s, 3 males 80s

• DuPage County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s

• Ford County: 1 male 90s

• Lake County: 1 female 100+

• Logan County: 1 female 50s

• Macon County: 1 male 80s

• Marion County: 1 female 90s

• Marshall County: 1 female 90s

• McLean County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 70s

• Monroe County: 1 female 90s

• Sangamon County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 80s

• St. Clair County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s

• Tazewell County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 2 males 80s

• Warren County: 1 female 80s

• Wayne County: 1 female 70s

• Will County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 90s

• Williamson County: 1 male 70s

Source: The Daily Chronicle