'Troubling Trends' In Coronavirus Data For Will-Kankakee Region

WILL COUNTY, IL — Public health officials are warning residents that there are signs of significant increases in coronavirus transmission in Illinois, with data about COVID-19 rates and hospitalizations heading the wrong direction in each of the state's emergency medical services regions.

During a press conference Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that "troubling trends" are being reported in a majority of the state's 11 emergency management regions, especially region 7 — Will and Kankakee counties.

Will County was already at a warning level — also knows as the orange level — for the coronavirus. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, a county enters a warning level when two or more coronavirus risk indicators increase.

Will County is at this level due to an increase in new cases per and a two-week increase in percentage of visits to the hospital for Coronavirus Like Illness. As of Friday, IDPH reports 93 cases per 100,000 residents, after a rate of 71 cases per 100,000 residents the previous week. The target for this is less than 50. The positivity rate in the county is at 6.8 percent, which is also close to reaching the warning level at 8 percent.

Any region that sustains an 8 percent positivity rate for three days in a row or sees an increase in positivity rates and simultaneous decrease in hospital capacity will need to implement additional community mitigation interventions, the IDPH website states.

As of Wednesday, Region 7 is showing five days of positivity increase as well as five days of hospital admission increase over a 10-day period. Currently, there are 32 percent of surgical beds and 35 percent of ICU beds available across the two-county region. This will reach a warning level if there is less than 20 percent availability for either types of hospital beds.

State health officials on Wednesday announced 2,295 new cases of the coronavirus and 25 additional deaths from COVID-19, bringing the statewide totals to 211,889 confirmed infections and 7,806 known deaths.

The statewide positive-test rate has climbed to 4.4 percent, up three-tenths of a percentage point from last week and 2 percentage points from last month.

The governor said decisions will be driven by data, not politics, and warned that he "won't hesitate" to tighten restrictions the regions if the numbers continue in the wrong direction.

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