Here’s where each health region in northern Illinois stands as of Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,128 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 27 additional deaths Wednesday.

The seven-day rolling average of Illinois’ positivity rate increased to 4.5%. The state received the results of 32,751 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Wednesday afternoon.

This marks a relatively low day for testing after the IDPH reported a backlog in public testing data on Tuesday afternoon.

In a news conference held Wednesday, IDPH Assistant Director Evonda Thomas-Smith said the department is experiencing an issue with the data processing system used to report testing numbers to the public, but added that everyone who has been tested recently received their results on time.

"That is why this number is somewhat lower than the forty and fifty-thousand tests we've been reporting previously," Thomas-Smith said. "This is being worked on with urgency and we expect that this will be addressed very soon."

Illinois now has seen 238,643 total cases of the virus and 8,091 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 4,119,873 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Tuesday, Illinois had 1,596 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 347 were in intensive care units, and 142 were on ventilators.

As Labor Day draws near, Thomas-Smith said Illinoisans must remember to wear face coverings, wash their hands frequently and practice social distancing when they gather to celebrate the holiday.

"Even our small, intimate family gatherings must look different than they did before but can be every bit as rewarding, as important and as enjoyable," she said.

Regional update: According to a July 15 update to Gov. JB Pritzker’s COVID-19 response plan, the state will be tracking public health metrics in a slightly different way to monitor any potential resurgences of COVID-19. Additional restrictions can be placed on any of the state’s 11 health regions if the region sustains an increase in its average positivity rate for seven days out of a ten day period.

A region may also become more restrictive if there is a seven-day increase in hospital admissions for COVID-19-related illness or a reduction in hospital medical/surgical beds or ICU capacity below 20%. If a region reports three consecutive days with greater than an 8% average positivity rate, additional infection mitigation will be considered through a tiered system of restriction guidelines offered by the IDPH.

The North Suburban region (McHenry and Lake counties) has seen five days of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate increased to 6.5%. Currently, 42% of medical/surgical beds are available and 48% of ICU beds.

The West Suburban region (DuPage and Kane counties) has seen four days of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate remained flat at 5.9%. Currently, 36% of medical/surgical beds are available and 47% of ICU beds.

The South Suburban region (Will and Kankakee counties) has seen four days of positivity increases and five days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate remained at 8.8%. Additional mitigation measures from the IDPH have been placed on the region and it has a week to get down below 8%, or it will face additional mitigations. To return to the standard Phase 4 restrictions, the region will need to maintain an average positivity rate of less than or equal to 6.5% over a 14-day period. Currently, 30% of the region’s medical/surgical beds are available and 30% of ICU beds.

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) has seen five days of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased significantly to 5.8%. Currently, 45% of medical/surgical beds are available and 47% of ICU beds.

The North-Central region (Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren and Woodford counties) has seen five days of positivity increases and three days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased significantly to 7.1%. Currently, 46% of medical/surgical beds are available and 42% of ICU beds.

Chicago has seen four days of positivity increases and three days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased slightly to 5.7%. Currently, 29% of medical/surgical beds are available and 41% of ICU beds.

Suburban Cook County has seen three days of positivity increases and four days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate decreased slightly to 6.6%. Currently, 30% of medical/surgical beds are available and 38% of ICU beds.

Newly reported deaths include:

• Adams County: 1 male 80s

• Christian County: 1 female 90s

• Cook County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 70s, 3 males 70s, 1 female 80s, 2 males 80s

• Crawford County: 1 male 70s

• DuPage County: 1 male 60s, 2 males 80s

• Ford County: 1 male 70s

• Jefferson County: 1 female 80s

• Kane County: 1 female 80s

• Lake County: 1 male 70s

• La Salle County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 90s

• Macoupin County: 1 female 80s

• Montgomery County: 1 male 90s

• Perry County: 1 female 80s

• Rock Island County: 1 female 90s

• St. Clair County: 2 females 80s

• Williamson County: 1 female 90s