Will-Kankakee At Warning Level For Medical Bed Availability: IDPH

WILL COUNTY, IL — The Will-Kankakee region has reached warning level for availability of medical/surgical beds for the first time since the Illinois Department of Public Health starting reporting this data in June.

As of Thursday, there are 15 percent medical/surgical beds available in Region 7 and the limit for this metric is 20 percent. ICU bed availability has also dropped to 21 percent and could see a decrease as hospitalizations across the region continue to rise.

According to public health data, the region is seeing 8 consecutive days of increase in hospital admissions and it is now at an all-time high since June.

Region 7 is already under Tier 2 mitigations starting Wednesday as its test positivity rate remained above 8 percent and continued to rise after more than 14 days under Tier 1 mitigations.

According to Tier 2 of IDPH's mitigation plan, additional restrictions at bars and restaurants would limit party sizes to six people instead of 10. Gatherings, both indoor and outdoor, would be limited to 10 people, though that does not apply to students learning in person or to sports.

Groups participating in organized recreational activities will also be limited to 10 people, but that restriction does not apply to fitness centers, according to the IDPH's plan.

As of Thursday, the positivity rate in Region 7 is at 18.5 percent and has been increasing for 10 consecutive days.

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