Will-Kankakee ICU Beds Availability Lowest In State: IDPH

WILL COUNTY, IL — The South Suburban region in the state currently has the lowest percentage of available ICU beds, according to data released by the Illinois Department of Public Health. As of Wednesday, Region 7 (Will and Kankakee) has utilized 86 percent of its ICU beds and only has 23 beds available out of 162 total.

The number of available ICU beds in the region was as low as 19 over the weekend, according to IDPH.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker during his Monday news conference said that before this current surge, Illinois had reached its hospitalization peak six months ago. As of the most current data, the state is seeing an average of more than 5,200 residents fighting COVID-19 in hospitals, which is more than 400 patients during the "spring high," Pritzker said. Hospitalizations have increased 70 percent in the past two weeks alone, he said.

The rate of ventilator availability looks better in Region 7 with 51 percent utilization and 66 ventilators out of a total of 136 still available.

The region's positivity has rate continued to grow despite being under Tier 2 mitigations. Currently, Region 7 has a positivity rate of 20.7 percent.

On Tuesday, health officials announced that Tier 3 mitigations will go into effect across the entire state on Friday. The additional mitigations include the closure of casinos, theaters, indoor museums, performing arts centers, amusement centers and indoor recreation centers.

Ruth Colby, president and CEO of the Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, said hospital workers are weary and the pandemic has taken a toll on them. She said the hospital currently has 60 employees who are not able to come into work because they have contacted the COVID-19 virus in the community.

The governor is urging residents to stay at home and wear masks when venturing out.

"What nurses and doctors and health care workers are experiencing right now in their hospitals is a crisis as challenging as the one they experienced last spring," Pritzker said. "These are our front-line health care heroes, and they need our support right now."