Kane-DuPage Only Region Where New COVID-19 Hospitalizations Down

Jonah Meadows
Updated ·8 min read

WHEATON, IL — Hospitalization and testing data from each of the 11 coronavirus mitigation regions created by Gov. J.B. Pritzker show the average number of new hospital admissions of people with suspected coronavirus cases continued to rise across most of the state. But in Region 8, which includes Kane and DuPage counties, the average daily number of hospitalizations declined, as did the percentage of tests that came back positive for the virus.

The positivity rate for the Kane-DuPage region fell from 4.7 percent to 4.5 percent during the week ending Aug. 4, the most recent day where data is available. During the same period, the average number of people admitted to local hospitals with symptoms of COVID-19 was down from 13 per day a week ago to 11 a day across the two-county region.

Statewide, the average positivity rate has ticked upward in the past week from 3.9 to 4.1 percent, even as some of the regions with the highest rates recorded a decline. A positivity rate below 5 percent suggests enough tests are being conducted, according to Johns Hopkins University, and Illinois officials set an 8-percent threshold for triggering new restrictions.

Thirteen Illinois counties have reached a warning level for coronavirus infections, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday. The news came as public health officials announced more than 2,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Friday for the first time since May 24.

Public health officials said the counties currently considered to be at a warning level — Cass, Coles, Grundy, Iroquois, Jackson, Monroe, Perry, Saline, St. Clair, Tazewell, Union, Williamson and Winnebago counties — had seen outbreaks driven by large social gatherings, businesses, long-term care facilities and interstate travel.

Students returning to colleges and universities have also driven some of the increase, according to an announcement from IDPH.

"Many students are not wearing face coverings or social distancing and are gathering in large groups and at bars," it said. Local public health officials have been working with school administrators to cancel summer events and festivals.

The boundaries of the 11 regions follow existing emergency medical services regions outside of the Chicago area, but in the city and suburbs they instead align with local health department boundaries, with the collar counties grouped into pairs.

Pritzker's administration established two thresholds that would trigger the imposition of new restrictions on one or more regions to stem the spread of the virus.

If there are three days in a row with an average regional positivity rate of 8 percent or more — or a combination of seven days of increases positivity rate and either under 20 percent hospital capacity or seven days out of 10 with an increase in the rounded rolling average of daily new hospital admissions with "COVID like illnesses" — new mitigation measures would be imposed.

Last week, every region showed an increase in positivity for at least seven of the previous 10 days.

This week, only one — Region 2 in Western Illinois — showed continued increases.

The region with the highest positivity rate last week — Region 4 in Southern Illinois — showed a decline of nearly a percent in the past week.

Updated hospital bed data shows Chicago and suburban Cook County now have the lowest percentage of available surgical and ICU beds.

In Chicago, 73 percent of surgical beds and 59 percent of hospital beds are full. In the suburban parts of the county, surgical beds are 71 percent full and ICU beds are 66 percent full.

Hospitalization rates in suburban Cook County have surpassed those in the city, rising from a rounded rolling average of 15 new suspected COVID-19 admissions a day last week to 22 this week. Chicago held steady at 20 new admissions during the same period.

As of Friday morning, there were 1,486 people hospitalized with the coronavirus, 333 patients with COVID-19 occupying 3,813 staffed ICU beds, and 125 patients on ventilators out of 5,626 ventilators available across the state.

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

Region 1 (Rockford EMS region)

  • 4.5 percent positivity rate on Aug. 4, down from 5 percent a week earlier

  • Two days of positivity increases and four days with declines in prior 10 days

  • Average of five new hospital admissions with COVID-like illnesses, up from four last week

  • 40 percent of surgical beds and 53 percent of ICU beds are available, a 3 percent decrease in surgical bed capacity and a 5 percent increase in available ICU beds compared to a week earlier

Region 2 (Peoria EMS region)

  • 5.3 percent positivity rate on Aug. 4, up by 0.9 percent compared to a week earlier

  • Seven days of positivity increases in past 10 for the second week in a row

  • Nine people hospitalized a day, on average, up from seven a week earlier

  • 42 percent of surgical beds and 43 percent of ICU beds are available, an increase of 3 percent in surgical beds and a decrease of 6 percent in ICU beds from a week earlier

Region 3 (Springfield EMS region)

  • 5.1 percent positivity rate on Aug. 4 after rising by 0.8 percent over the past week

  • Six days of positivity increases in past 10

  • An average of four hospital admissions in past 10 days, the same as a week earlier

  • 39 percent of surgical beds and 47 percent of ICU beds are available in the region, a decrease in 4 percent of ICU beds compared to a week earlier

Region 4 (Edwardsville EMS region)

  • 6.8 percent positivity rate on Aug. 4, down by 0.9 percent in the past week

  • One day of increases and five days of declines in positivity rates out of prior 10

  • An average of four daily hospitalizations, up from three a week earlier

  • 31 percent of surgical beds are available, a decrease of 8 percent in the past week, and 45 percent of ICU beds remain available, a decrease of 4 percent from a week earlier

Region 5 (Marion EMS region)

  • 6.5 percent positivity rate on Aug. 4, the same as a week earlier

  • Four days out of past 10 with increasing positivity rates

  • A rolling hospital admission average of four people a day, up from three a week ago

  • 50 percent of surgical beds and 64 percent of ICU beds are available, an increase of 2 percent in surgical beds and 8 percent in available ICU beds.

Region 6 (Champaign EMS region)

  • 2.9 percent positivity rate on Aug. 4, down by 0.2 percent compared to a week earlier

  • Four days of positivity increases in past 10 days

  • An average of five people are being hospitalized a day, the same as a week earlier

  • 37 percent of surgical beds and 48 percent of ICU beds are available, an increase of 4 percent in ICU beds.

Region 7 (Will, Kankakee counties)

  • 5.9 percent positivity rate on Aug. 4, a decline of 0.4 percent during the past week

  • Four days of positivity increases in the past 10

  • Nine hospital admissions a day on average, up from seven a week earlier, with four days of increases in the past 10

  • 34 percent of surgical beds and 36 percent of ICU beds are available, an increase of 9 percent in available surgical beds and 5 percent in available ICU beds over the past week

Region 8 (Kane, DuPage counties)

  • 4.5 percent positivity rate on Aug. 4, a decline of 0.2 percent during the past week

  • Two days of increasing positivity, three days of declines in previous 10

  • 11 new hospital admissions a day on average, down from 13 a week earlier

  • 34 percent of surgical beds and 47 percent of ICU beds available, an increase of 2 percent in surgical beds and a decrease of 1 percent in ICU beds over the past week

Region 9 (Lake, McHenry counties)

  • 5.1 percent positivity rate on Aug. 4, down by 0.2 percent from a week earlier

  • Four days of positivity increases in past 10, three days of declines

  • An average of eight people hospitalized a day, compared to five a week earlier

  • 39 percent of surgical beds and 51 percent of ICU beds are available, an increase of 3 percent for both over the past week

Region 10 (Suburban Cook County)

  • 5.7 percent positivity rate on Aug. 4, the same as a week earlier

  • Five days out of last 10 days with increasing positivity

  • 22 new hospitalizations a day, up from 15 a week earlier, with four days of increases to the average

  • 29 percent of surgical beds and 34 percent of ICU beds are available. Compared to a week earlier, that marks a 10 percent decline in surgical bed capacity and a 14 percent decline in ICU beds

Region 11 (Chicago)

  • 4.9 percent positivity rate on Aug. 4, up by 0.1 percent over the past week

  • Four days out of last 10 with increasing positivity

  • 20 people hospitalized a day, on average, the same as week earlier

  • 27 percent of surgical beds and 41 percent of ICU beds are available, a decrease of 2 percent in available surgical beds and an increase of 1 percent in ICU beds

Earlier:
New Emergency Mask Rules Proposed For Businesses, Schools
After Threat To Resume Restrictions, IL Mask Campaign Launched
Illinois State Rep. Asks Judge To Jail Gov. Pritzker For Contempt
Illinois Breaks 2,000 New Coronavirus Cases For First Time Since May

This article originally appeared on the Wheaton Patch