Illinois COVID-19 hospitalizations decline to mid-November levels

Illinois has the fewest number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 since Nov. 17, according to new data from the Illinois Department of Public Health released Wednesday.

As of late Tuesday, Illinois had 1,683 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 313 were in intensive care units, the fewest since Nov. 13, and 153 were on ventilators.

The IDPH reported 3,323 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 104 additional deaths Wednesday.

The state’s rolling seven-day average for new cases dropped to 3,701 new cases per day, the lowest average since Nov. 17. The decline in numbers comes as a legislative panel on Tuesday voted to suspend the latest version of COVID-19 mitigations for public schools, saying in part that those rules still are being litigated in a state appellate court. Many public schools throughout the state opted to go mask optional after the ruling.

For Tuesday, the state administered 19,766 shots.

The state received the results of 107,304 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Wednesday afternoon. The state’s positivity rate dropped to 2.8%

Illinois has seen 3,007,987 total cases of the virus, and 32,176 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 53,294,319 tests since the start of the pandemic.

Vaccine update: As of Wednesday, the IDPH reported a total of 23,464,845 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 20,929,507 vaccines administered.

As of Wednesday, 8,057,233 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 63.24% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

Also, 4,070,233 people have received a booster dose, or 31.94% of the state’s population. Among 5-11 year olds, 38.16% have received at least one vaccine dose and 31.14% are fully vaccinated.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,478,512 (71.1%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,590,505 (80.4%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,118,051 (74.9%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,143,531 (84.4%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,504,004 (76.2%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,451,669 (85.8%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,782,605 (87.2%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,960,241 (95%)

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

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

Chicago: 66.07%

Suburban Cook: 70.24%

Lake: 67.35%

McHenry: 63.85%

DuPage: 73.48%

Kane: 63.86%

Will: 64.54%

Kendall: 66.59%

La Salle: 56.84%

Grundy: 55.90%

DeKalb: 54.83%

Ogle: 55.23%

Lee: 57.03%

Whiteside: 50.41%

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 5.5%. Currently, 19% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, McHenry County’s seven-day positivity rate average decreased to 6.8%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 5.0%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to a total of 115 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The West Suburban (DuPage and Kane counties) region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 5.2%. Currently, 23% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity rate increased to 5.9%, and DuPage County’s declined to 4.8%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 181 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The South Suburban (Will and Kankakee counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 5.0%. Currently, 17% of ICU beds are available.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 84 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 6.3%.

Currently, 12% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate increased to 5.6%, Lee County’s rate decreased to 3.2%, and Whiteside County’s went down to 6.9%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 123 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 decreased to 4.9%.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate stayed flat at 4.4%. Currently, 23% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for 10 out of the past 10 days. The region is down to a total of 199 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

Chicago’s positivity rate fell to 2.0%. Currently, 16% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for 10 out of the past 10 days.

Suburban Cook County’s positivity rate fell to 3.1%. Currently, 16% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region.