Illinois reports 23 more deaths, 955 new COVID-19 cases
Cases of COVID-19 rose by 955 and deaths from the respiratory disease increased by 23, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Tuesday.
That brings the statewide total to 163,703 cases and number of Illinoisans perishing since the pandemic began to 7,324.
Meanwhile, the state positivity rate from COVID-19 tests stands at 3.1% based on a seven-day average. The daily positivity rate is 3.2%.
At a news event in downstate Collinsville, Gov. J.B. Pritzker noted the Metro East region near St. Louis is recording a 7% positivity rate. That's close to the 8% level, which triggers remedies in a specific region such as halting indoor dining at restaurants or reducing the number of people who can gather together.
“The pandemic is very much here and remains a very serious threat,” Pritzker said. “We are imploring people to wear their masks. To a large degree, this is about personal responsibility. No one can follow you all day long and say, 'wear a mask.'”
On July 15, the state revised its COVID-19 policies by dividing the state into 11 regions. If the virus surges in a location, authorities can order actions to reduce its spread - ranging from cutting capacity at shops up to shutting down all non-essential retail, for example.
The suburbs' positivity test rates were as follows as of Friday: Cook County at 4.3%, DuPage County at 3.8%, Kane County at 4.2%, Kendall County at 4.4%, Lake County at 3.4%, McHenry County at 5.2%, and Will County at 4.3%.
Pritzker noted, “you can be completely asymptomatic and transmit this to somebody who may have an underlying condition that will make this much worse.
“We'll step in if we need to. I'm hoping we don't have to but I'm reminding people we are dangerously close to that threshold (in Metro East) .”
Experts said one reason for the spike is that region's proximity to Missouri, which doesn't have a statewide mask mandate and has an average positivity rate of 7.5%, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.
Some patients from Metro East informed health workers they had socialized on a party bus or visited large events at a winery.
“This is no joke,” Pritzker said. “This is no hoax. People are getting sick and dying. "
Along with the positivity rate, hospitalization is another metric authorities are watching. On Monday, 1,466 patients with COVID-19 were in Illinois hospitals, which is higher than the seven-day average of 1,416. But that recent average is lower than the July 7 to 13 tally of 1,426.
And, the state's recovery rate is 95% compared to 94% last week.
The IDPH also reported 16 new cases of COVID-19 among staff members at the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles and three new cases among teenage residents. All employees and residents have been tested and upgraded infection control measures are under way.
One concern for health experts is the virus being spread by young adults congregating at crowded spots, such as bars or parties, without masks. The number of Illinoisans aged 20 to 29 with COVID-19 stands at 17.7% as of Tuesday, an uptick from last week. Twenty-somethings continue to lead the case count statewide compared to other age categories.