Four Illinois health care regions down to single-digit ICU bed availability

As of late Monday, Illinois had a new pandemic state record 6,600 patients in the hospital with COVID-19, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Tuesday. Of those, 1,118 were in intensive care units, and 658 were on ventilators.

Four of the state’s 11 health care regions are down to the single digits in available, staffed ICU beds. Illinois currently has 2,975 total staffed ICU beds, nearly identical to what the state’s total was near the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020, according to available state data.

The regions with single-digit ICU beds available:

Region 1 (DeKalb County, Sauk Valley, Rockford): 7 ICU beds available out of 144.

Region 4 (Metro East, near St. Louis): 8 ICU beds available out of 101.

Region 5 (southern Illinois): 3 ICU beds available out of 84. This region ran out of open ICU beds in September during the delta variant surge.

Region 7 (Will and Kankakee counties): 3 ICU beds available out of 133.

COVID-19 positive patients now occupy 37.5% of the state’s ICU beds.

IDPH reported 24,423 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 79 additional deaths.

For Monday, the state administered 50,315 shots.

The state received the results of 125,829 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday afternoon. The state’s positivity rate went up to 13.2%

Illinois has seen 2,263,166 total cases of the virus, and 28,077 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 45,305,412 tests since the start of the pandemic.

Vaccine update: As of Tuesday, IDPH reported a total of 21,334,505 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 19,357,296 vaccines administered.

As of the time this story was published, 7,735,279 of the population of Illinois have been fully vaccinated, or 60.71%. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people. Also, 3,210,306 people have received a booster dose, or 25.1% of the state’s population. Among 5-11 year olds, 29% have received at least one vaccine dose and 20.31% are fully vaccinated.

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,114,429 (68%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,118,294 (76.5%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,888,934 (72.8%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,788,821 (81.1%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,314,277 (74.2%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,149,440 (82.7%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,769,717 (86.6%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,942,103 (95%)

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: 62.93%

Suburban Cook: 67.13%

Lake: 64.66%

McHenry: 61.53%

DuPage: 71.03%

Kane: 61.25%

Will: 61.73%

Kendall: 63.59%

La Salle: 54.50%

Grundy: 53.49%

DeKalb: 52.71%

Ogle: 53.02%

Lee: 55.63%

Whiteside: 48.99%

Bureau: 52.69%

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 increased to 16.8%. Currently, 15% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, McHenry County’s seven-day positivity rate average increased to 19.2%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 15.9%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable two out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to a total of 298 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The West Suburban (DuPage and Kane counties) region’s positivity rate increased to 20.1%. Currently, 13% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity rate increased to 21.7%, and DuPage County’s increased to 19.4%.

Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 640 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The South Suburban (Will and Kankakee counties) region’s positivity rate increased to 21.2%. Currently, 2.25% of ICU beds are available.

Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 345 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 increased to 16.4%.

Currently, 4.8% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate increased to 21.6%, Lee County’s rate increased to 11.3%, and Whiteside County’s went up to 15%.

Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 311 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 19.9%.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to 16.9%. Currently, 12% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations have increased for 10 out of the past 10 days. The region is up to a total of 489 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

Chicago’s positivity rate fell to 18.2%. Currently, 10% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days.

Suburban Cook County’s positivity rate increased to 18.5%. Currently, 10% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region.