Illinois sees most COVID-19 patients in the ICU since January 5

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 10,765 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 52 additional deaths Friday.

For Thursday, the state administered 72,515 shots. Illinois also has administered a total of 440,687 doses to 5-11 year olds, an increase of 8,019 doses from Thursday’s update. As a state, 24.53% of Illinois children 5-11 years old have received a first vaccine dose, and 15.37% have received two doses.

The state received the results of 210,023 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Friday afternoon. The state’s positivity rate went up to 4.9%.

Illinois is also up to a confirmed 16 cases of the omicron variant, a two-day increase of 14 confirmed cases, though public health officials have said the actual total of omicron cases is likely much higher as sequencing virus samples in conjunction with the CDC can take days or weeks.

Illinois has seen 1,944,056 total cases of the virus, and 27,117 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 42,033,355 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 3,783 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, the most since January 6. Of those, 787 were in intensive care units, the most since January 5, and 353 were on ventilators. COVID-19 patients now occupy 26% of the state’s staffed ICU beds.

The hospital increases come as top state doctor Ngozi Ezike of the Illinois Department of Public Health says COVID-19 hospitalizations are “rising at an alarming rate” in northern Illinois’ Region 1, a geographical area which includes DeKalb County and Sauk Valley.

Region 1 has only 10 staffed, available ICU beds out of 149 total.

Morris Hospital in its daily report said that of the 11 COVID-19 patients in its ICU, 10 were unvaccinated.

Vaccine update: As of Friday, IDPH reported a total of 21,212,415 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 18,475,621 vaccines administered.

As of the time this story was published, 7,617,050 of the population of Illinois have been fully vaccinated, or 59.78%. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

State data shows 2,601,997 booster doses have been administered, an increase of 46,910 doses from Thursday’s update. Illinois’ total population is now 20.4% boosted.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,025,130 (67.3%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,963,433 (75.2%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,847,833 (72.4%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,675,873 (80.1%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,280,494 (73.9%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,047,651 (81.7%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,767,771 (86.5%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,933,269 (94.6%)

There can be as much as a 72-hour delay in reporting from healthcare providers on vaccines administered.

In northern Illinois, here is the percentage of the population fully vaccinated by county:

Chicago: 62.05%

Suburban Cook: 65.93%

Lake: 63.44%

McHenry: 60.62%

DuPage: 69.73%

Kane: 60.32%

Will: 60.61%

Kendall: 62.36%

La Salle: 53.67%

Grundy: 52.62%

DeKalb: 52.12%

Ogle: 51.95%

Lee: 54.60%

Whiteside: 48.34%

Bureau: 51.74%

Regional update: All 11 regions in the state are in Phase 5.

Regional data from the IDPH remains on a three-day lag.

The North Suburban (McHenry and Lake counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 5.7%. Currently, 12% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, McHenry County’s seven-day positivity rate average stayed flat at 8.0%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 4.9%.

Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to a total of 238 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The West Suburban (DuPage and Kane counties) region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 6.2%. Currently, 15% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to 6.7%, and DuPage County’s stayed flat at 5.9%.

Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 363 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The South Suburban (Will and Kankakee counties) region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 7.7%. Currently, there 7% of ICU beds are available.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable one out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 224 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The North (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 8.9%.

Currently, 7% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate increased to 7.0%, Lee County’s rate increased to 8.6%, and Whiteside County’s went up to 6.5%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable one out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 269 total COVID-19 hospitalizations.

The North-Central (Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren and Woodford counties) region’s positivity rate increased to 8.0%.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate increased to 5.9%. Currently, 8% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days. The region is up to a total of 385 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

Chicago’s positivity rate increased to 4.5%. Currently, 8% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days.

Suburban Cook County’s positivity rate increased to 5.1%. Currently, 10% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region.