Coronavirus Positivity Rate Steadily Rises In Cook County Suburbs

Skokie IL

31 July, 2020

5:17 PM

Description

COOK COUNTY, IL — Public health and government officials caution there are signs of significant increases in coronavirus transmission in Illinois, with data about COVID-19 rates and hospitalizations heading the wrong direction in each of the state's emergency medical services regions. The warning comes just over two weeks after Gov. JB Pritzker announced a new mitigation plan that divided the state into 11 regions. The administration uses indicators including positivity rates, hospital admissions, new cases, clusters and deaths to assess the level of COVID-19 activity in each region. In the suburban Cook County region, the positivity rate rose to 5.7 percent this week following nine days of increases out of 10. Public health officials have said a rate under 5 percent indicates sufficient testing, but if it exceeds 8 percent for several days, increased mitigation measures will be needed. There were also 15 people admitted to a hospital Tuesday in the suburban Cook County region with a known or suspected case of COVID-19, according to the latest data available from the Illinois Department of Public Health. There were increases in daily admissions on four of the past 10 days, but the overall number of people admitted the hospital Tuesday was the lowest during the same period. Data from the Cook County Department of Public Health, which covers all suburbs except for Evanston, Oak Park, Skokie and Stickney Township, showed significantly fewer daily hospitalizations than the IDPH metrics indicated. According to IDPH, 39 percent of surgical beds in suburban Cook County and 49 percent of ICU are currently available. Outside of the Chicago area, the regional boundaries align with those in existing Illinois Department Public Health emergency medical services regions. COVID-19 mitigation regions in the Chicago area do not align with existing EMS regions. As of Friday, there are 11 counties considered to be at a warning level for rates of the coronavirus in the community, according to the state public health agency. They include Cass, Gallatin, Jackson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Perry, Randolph, Saline, Sangamon, St. Clair and White. Public health officials said those counties saw outbreaks associated with activities such as graduation ceremonies, parties and social gatherings, groups at bars, restaurants and churches and sporting events, with many residents declining to wear face coverings. Leaders in some of those counties have implemented mitigation measures. But according to IDPH, public health officials have found positive coronavirus tests in "most contacts" to confirmed cases. The Pritzker administration has established a pair of triggers that could lead portions of the state to roll back some of the reopening that followed the lifting of the governor's stay-at-home order. If a region has three days in a row with an average positivity rate of 8 percent or greater, that would trigger an increase in restrictions on activities to mitigate the spread of the virus. Or, if a region has an increase in positivity rate for seven of the last 10 days — which every region does in the latest data — and has either under 20 percent of its hospital bed capacity available or an increase in daily hospital admissions for seven of the last 10 days, stricter regulations would kick in. Data through Tuesday was released Friday. Find the latest metrics from each region below: Region 1 (Rockford EMS region) 5 percent positivity rate on July 28, following three days of declinesSeven days out of last 10 with increasing positivityFour people admitted to hospital a day with with zero days of increasing hospital admissions.43 percent of surgical beds and 48 percent of ICU beds are availableRegion 2 (Peoria EMS region) 4.4 percent positivity rate July 28, holding steady from the day before after six days of increasesSeven days out of last 10 with increasing positivitySeven people a day hospitalized with three days of increases in past 1039 percent of surgical beds and 49 percent of ICU beds are availableRegion 3 (Springfield EMS region) 4.3 percent positivity rate on July 28, up 1 percent from 10 days priorIncreasing positivity rates for seven of past 10 daysOne day of increased in hospital admission in last 10, with four admitted Tuesday39 percent of surgical beds and 51 percent of ICU beds are availableRegion 4 (Edwardsville EMS region) 7.7 percent positivity rate on July 28, just under the 8 percent threshold set by the stateSix days out of last 10 days with increasing positivityThree people hospitalized a day, with three days of admission increases in past 1039 percent of surgical beds and 49 percent of ICU beds are availableRegion 5 (Marion EMS region) 6.5 percent positivity rate on July 28, up from 4.6 percent 10 days earlierNine days out of last 10 with increasing positivity ratesTwo hospital admissions a day with two days of increases out of past 1048 percent of surgical beds and 58 percent of ICU beds are availableRegion 6 (Champaign EMS region) 3.1 percent positivity rate on July 28, holding steady after three straight days of increasesEight of last 10 days with increasing positivityFive people hospitalized a day, with three days of admission increases our of prior 10 37 percent of surgical beds and 44 percent of ICU beds are availableRegion 7 (Will, Kankakee counties) 6.3 percent positivity rate on July 28Seven days out of last 10 days with increasing positivitySeven people hospitalized a day, with one day of an increases in admissions out of past 1025 percent of surgical beds and 31 percent of ICU beds are availableRegion 8 (Kane, DuPage counties) 4.7 percent positivity rate on July 28, increasing from the day before after staying stable for four days Five days of increasing positivity out of last 10 days13 people hospitalized a day, with four days of admission increases in past 1032 percent of surgical beds and 48 percent of ICU beds are availableRegion 9 (Lake, McHenry counties) 5.3 percent positivity rate on July 28, holding steady for the first time in a weekEight days out of last 10 days with increasing positivityFive people hospitalized a day, with two days of admission increases in past 1036 percent of surgical beds and 51 percent of ICU beds are availableRegion 10 (Suburban Cook County) 5.7 percent positivity rate on July 28 following a third consecutive daily increaseFour days out of last 10 days with increasing positivity15 people hospitalized a day, four days of admission increases in past 1039 percent of surgical beds and 49 percent of ICU beds are available Region 11 (Chicago) 4.8 percent positivity rate on July 28, stable from the day before for the first time in a weekSix days out of last 10 days with increasing positivity20 people hospitalized a day, with three days of admission increases in past 1029 percent of surgical beds and 40 percent of ICU beds are availableEarlier:Four Counties At 'Warning Level' For Coronavirus SurgeIllinois Coronavirus Region 'Dangerously Close' To New RestrictionsPritzker Redraws Coronavirus Regions, Going From 4 to 11 Regions