COVID-19 hospitalizations see largest single-day spike in Illinois
Almost 300 patients suffering from COVID-19 symptoms were admitted to hospitals across the state Tuesday, marking the largest single-day spike since the state began releasing figures.
There are now 5,036 people hospitalized in Illinois because of a coronavirus infection, including 1,290 in intensive care, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The number of coronavirus patients in ICU beds grew by 45, as well.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker focused on hospitalizations during his daily briefing Wednesday, as the state also announced 2,253 newly diagnosed cases and 92 deaths the previous day.
"Hospitalizations are perhaps the most important measure here because you don't want your hospitals overrun," he said.
Pritzker, in the face of mounting calls to "reopen" the state, didn't answer what the hospitalization rates need to look like before that could begin.
"They can't keep going up. Right now, they're going up," Pritzker said, pointing toward the federal government's guidelines. "You have to peak and move down the other side for 14 consistent days."
COVID-19 patients are taking up nearly 16% of all of the state's hospital beds and 36% of all the state's ICU beds.
Only 26% of the state's ICU beds are available following a surge of patients with diagnoses other than COVID-19 being admitted within the past week. On April 23, there were 991 non-COVID patients in ICU beds, and by Tuesday there were 1,354, a 36% increase.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, head of the Illinois Department of Public Health, suggested some of those patients might have been admitted after recovering from the coronavirus.
"I'm seeing how this virus actually affects blood vessels and how it promotes clots," Ezike said. "There may be additional heart attacks, strokes and other clotting events that may in fact be related to COVID."
However, she noted she hasn't studied the medical records of those people.
The state's death toll since the outbreak began is 2,215 and the number of infections statewide is 50,355.
Pritzker said the state has acquired a decontamination system for health care workers' personal protective equipment, which has been in short supply since the outbreak began. He said the decontamination unit can sterilize equipment which was meant to be used once up to 20 times without degrading its performance.
"I can't overstate how important this resource is in our ability to help our hospitals, health care workers, law enforcement and front-line workers," he added.
He urged front-line workers, especially those in nursing homes, to report employers to local health departments if the workers aren't receiving supplies of protective equipment. Some workers have said they fear reprisal from their bosses if they report problems.
"If a facility is firing somebody for asking for these things, especially given the moment we're all in, our department of labor and the attorney general's office should hear from those workers," Pritzker said.