Chicago Coronavirus Positivity Rises 1.6 Points In A Week To 7%

Jonah Meadows
Updated ·8 min read

CHICAGO — The coronavirus positivity rate in Chicago and the average number of new daily hospitalizations of people with coronavirus symptoms in the symptom each reached their highest levels since June this week.

In the third week of October, positivity rates continued rising across all but one of the state's 11 COVID-19 resurgence mitigation regions. As of Friday, four of the regions are subject to state-ordered mitigation measures restricting indoor dining and other activities, including DuPage, Kane, Kankakee and Will counties.

In Chicago, Region 11 in Gov. J.B. Pritzker's mitigation plan, the positivity rate reached 7 percent Tuesday, the most recent day where the seven-day rolling average is available from the Illinois Department of Public Health. The city had seen eight days of increases out of the previous 10.

If a region's positivity rate reaches a threshold of 8 percent and remains there for three days, state public health officials order the imposition of additional mitigation measures.

Meanwhile, the average number of new daily hospitalizations Chicago continued to rise. The rounded, rolling seven-day average of admissions to hospitals with "COVID-like illnesses," or CLI, rose to 36 people a day Tuesday, up from 28 a week earlier — nearly twice the city's hospitalization rate a month earlier.

Meanwhile, the number of counties considered to be at a warning level for COVID-19, meaning two or more county-level risk indicators show an increasing risk of the virus' spread.

Half Illinois counties are now at the "orange" warning level: Adams, Bond, Boone, Carroll, Cass, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, DeKalb, Douglas, Edwards, Fayette, Ford, Franklin, Gallatin, Greene, Hamilton, Henderson, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Kendall, Knox, LaSalle, Lee, Macon, Macoupin, McDonough, McHenry, Mercer, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Perry, Pike, Pulaski, Rock Island, Saline, Shelby, Stephenson, Union, Vermilion, Wabash, Warren, Wayne, Whiteside, Will, Williamson and Winnebago.

(Illinois Department of Public Health)
(Illinois Department of Public Health)

Public health officials said some businesses continue to disregard social distancing and face covering requirements, noting in a statement that "mayors, local law enforcement, state's attorneys, and other community leaders can be influential in ensuring citizens and businesses follow best practices."

On Friday, the state public health agency reported and 3,874 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 31 deaths.

As of Thursday night, there were 2,498 people in Illinois reported to be hospitalized with COVID-19, up by 482 from a week earlier and 38 percent more people than were hospitalized with the virus two weeks ago.

Of those currently in the state's hospitals, there were 511 patients in intensive care units, 111 more people in the ICU than a week earlier. There were 197 COVID-19 patients on ventilators, 46 more than a week earlier.

Less than 83,000 tests were reported in the previous 24 hours. The statewide preliminary seven-day average positivity rate, as a percentage of total tests, is 5.6 percent for the week ending Thursday, up by 0.5 percentage points from a week earlier.

Illinois Coronavirus Update Oct. 23: More Than Half Of Illinois Counties Now At 'Warning Level' — Don't miss updates about precautions in the Chicago area as they are announced — Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

Data through Tuesday was released Friday. Find the latest metrics from all regions below:

Region 1 (Rockford EMS region)

  • 11.7 percent positivity on Oct. 20 — up from 10.6 percent from a week early. The nine-county northwest Illinois region was the first in the state to be subject to second-tier mitigation measures this week after setting a state record for its positivity rate. Tier 1 measures have been in place in the region since Oct. 3.

  • 13 new daily hospital admission of patients with coronavirus symptoms, up from 11 a week earlier

  • 36 percent of surgical beds and 41 percent of ICU beds are available, compared to 33 percent of surgical beds and 42 percent of ICU beds a week earlier

Region 2 (Peoria EMS region)

  • 7 percent coronavirus positivity rate on Oct. 20, up by 1 percentage point from a week earlier and 2 points in the past two weeks

  • 15 new daily hospital admissions of people with COVID-19 symptoms, four more than the prior week

  • 38 percent of surgical beds and 41 percent of ICU beds are available, compared to 34 percent of surgical beds and 38 percent of ICU beds a week earlier

Region 3 (Springfield EMS region)

  • 7.2 percent coronavirus positivity rate on Oct. 20, up from 6.7 percentage points from a week earlier

  • 12 new daily hospital admissions, up from eight week earlier and twice as many as two weeks prior

  • 30 percent of surgical beds and 25 percent of ICU beds are available, compared to 33 percent of surgical beds and 32 percent of ICU beds a week earlier

Region 4 (Edwardsville EMS region)

  • 8.1 percent coronavirus positivity rate on Oct. 20, up from 7 percent a week earlier. Two more days above the 8-percent threshold would result in the re-imposition of mitigation measures lifted earlier this month

  • Five new daily hospital admissions with COVID-19 symptoms, the same the prior week

  • 31 percent of surgical beds and 51 percent of ICU beds are available, 4 points more surgical beds and 6 points more ICU beds compared to a week earlier

Region 5 (Marion EMS region)

  • 8.7 percent percent coronavirus positivity rate on Oct. 20, up from 7.8 percent from a week earlier. Additional restrictions were placed on the region this week.

  • Eight new daily hospital admissions with CLI in the region, on average, down from nine a week earlier

  • 44 percent of surgical beds and 57 percent of ICU beds are available, the same three-day rolling average as a week earlier

Region 6 (Champaign EMS region)

  • 7.3 percent coronavirus positivity rate on Oct. 20, when excluding the University of Illinois comprehensive saliva testing program, down by 0.1 points from a week earlier

  • 19 new daily hospital admissions with coronavirus symptoms, up from 14 the prior week and nearly twice as many as two weeks earlier

  • 28 percent of surgical beds and 39 percent of ICU beds are available, compared to 32 percent of surgical beds and 45 percent of ICU beds a week earlier

Region 7 (Will, Kankakee counties)

  • 9.2 percent percent coronavirus positivity rate on Oct. 20 — up from 6.8 percent the prior week and 5.6 percent two weeks earlier

  • 16 people a day were being admitted to the region's hospitals with COVID-19 symptoms, on average, up from 15 a week earlier

  • 24 percent of surgical beds and 25 percent of ICU beds are available at hospitals in the region, compared to 25 percent of surgical beds and 26 percent of ICU beds a week earlier

Region 8 (Kane, DuPage counties)

  • 9.4 percent coronavirus positivity rate on Oct. 20, up from 7.4 percent a week earlier. There have been nine days of increases out of the past 10 days, and new restrictions placed on the region went into effect Friday.

  • 23 people a day, on average, were being hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms, up from 18 a week earlier

  • 25 percent of surgical beds and 41 percent of ICU beds remain available, 4 points less average surgical bed availability and the same 3-day rolling average of available ICU beds as the prior week

Region 9 (Lake, McHenry counties)

  • 7.7 percent coronavirus positivity rate on Oct. 20, up by 1.1 percentage points from the prior week. The region has had eight days of positivity increases in the past 10.

  • 12 new hospital admissions with coronavirus systems every day, on average, up from 10 a week earlier

  • 34 percent of surgical beds and 47 percent of ICU beds were available, the same average availability for surgical beds, while the 3-day average of available ICU beds in the region fell by 3 points

Region 10 (Suburban Cook County)

  • 7.3 percent coronavirus positivity rate on Oct. 20, up by 1 percentage point during the prior week

  • 42 people a day, on average, were admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 symptoms, up from 31 a week earlier

  • 23 percent of surgical beds and 29 percent of ICU beds were available in the region's hospitals, 1 percentage point more available surgical beds, on average, and the same amount of ICU beds compared to a week earlier

Region 11 (Chicago)

  • 7 percent positivity rate on Oct. 20, up from 5.4 percent a week earlier and rising on eight of the previous 10 days to its highest point since June

  • 36 people a day, on average were admitted to hospitals in the city with coronavirus symptoms, up from 28 the prior week

  • 22 percent of surgical beds were available and 31 percent of ICU beds remained available, the same three-day rolling average of each as a week earlier

This article originally appeared on the Chicago Patch