Hospitalizations reach early-June highs as Illinois reports new single-day COVID-19 case and testing highs

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported a single-day record 4,554 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 38 additional deaths Friday.

The 4,554 new cases beat the previous single day total of 4,015, which was set Thursday. On Sept. 4, IDPH reported 5,368 new cases of COVID-19 after a slowdown in data processing delayed reporting of some additional aggregate numbers.

The seven-day rolling average of Illinois’ positivity rate went up to 5.1%. The state received the results of 87,759 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Friday afternoon, which is another single-day record.

Illinois now has seen 336,174 total cases of the virus, and 9,165 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 6,531,009 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 2,016 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. That is the highest number of COVID-related hospitalizations since June 12. Of those, 410 were in intensive care units, the most since June 22, and 151 were on ventilators.

Regional update: 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 10-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 six days of positivity increases and five days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased to 6.6%. Currently, 34% of medical/surgical beds are available and 50% of ICU beds.

Regional data from IDPH remains on a three-day lag and counts total positive tests rather than individuals who may test positive more than once, but within this region, McHenry County's seven-day positivity rate average has now climbed to 8.8%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 5.8%.

The West Suburban region (DuPage and Kane counties) has seen nine days of positivity increases – meeting one criteria for stricter mitigation measures – and five days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased from 7.0% to 7.4%. Currently, 30% of medical/surgical beds are available and 43% of ICU beds.

Within this region, Kane County's rolling seven-day positivity average jumped a full percentage point and is now 9.1%. It has turned in three straight single-day positivity rates above 10%.

The South Suburban region (Will and Kankakee counties) has seen seven days of positivity increases and seven days of hospital admission increases, making the region once again eligible for extra mitigations. The region's positivity rate increased from 6.6 to 6.8%. Currently, 27% of the region's medical/surgical beds are available and 27% of ICU beds.

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) has seen eight days of positivity increases and three days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased from 10.3% to 10.6%, still the highest rate of any of the state's 11 regions. Currently, 31% of medical/surgical beds are available and 39% of ICU beds.

The North region (Region 1) is under additional COVID-19 mitigation measures from the IDPH as of Saturday, Oct. 3. If Region 1 continues to report positivity rates above 8%, further mitigation efforts may be taken. 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.

The region's counties that are reporting the highest positivity rates are Jo Daviess (12.1%), Lee (12.1%), Winnebago (11.8%), and Boone (11.7%). DeKalb County's positivity rate fell to 8.1%, while Whiteside County's fell to 9.5%.

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 two days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased to 6.0%. Currently, 34% of medical/surgical beds are available and 39% of ICU beds.

Chicago has seen five days of positivity increases and six days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased from 5.2% to 5.4%. Currently, 22% of medical/surgical beds are available and 30% of ICU beds.

Suburban Cook County has seen eight days of positivity increases – meeting one data point for enhanced mitigations – and five days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased from 6.2% to 6.3%. Currently, 22% of medical/surgical beds are available and 29% of ICU beds.

To see how other regions across the state are doing, see the full IDPH dashboard here.

Newly reported deaths include:

• Christian County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s

• Clay County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 80s

• Cook County: 1 female 40s, 3 male 50s, 1 female 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s

• DuPage County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s

• Fayette County: 1 male 80s

• Ford County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s

• Jefferson County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 90s

• JoDaviess County: 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s

• Lake County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s

• Lawrence County: 1 male 70s

• Madison County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s

• McHenry County: 1 female 60s

• Ogle County: 1 male 70s

• Richland County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s

• Rock Island County: 1 male 60s

• Sangamon County: 1 female 80s

• St. Clair County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s

• Wayne County: 1 male 90s

• Will County: 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s

• Williamson County: 1 male 70s