Pritzker: Rising COVID-19 hospitalizations in Illinois are 'problematic'
The number of COVID-19 patients in Illinois hospitals is trending up, and “that's something we're watching closely,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday as officials announced 1,953 new virus cases and 28 more deaths.
People hospitalized with the respiratory disease totaled 1,609 as of Wednesday night, higher than September's daily average of 1,563, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported.
“Our hospitalizations are rising, and that's problematic,” Pritzker said at a Chicago briefing.
The average daily patient count was 1,420 in July and 1,521 in August, with a 10% increase from July to September.
Pritzker also announced virus-related restrictions, such as no indoor dining at restaurants and bars, will continue in Will and Kankakee counties until their COVID-19 test positivity rate drops from the current average of 7.5% to 6.5%.
Positive test rates in the region were higher than 8% in late August, which triggered state actions to prevent a COVID-19 surge. The IDPH will continue monitoring the two counties.
“I'm pleased to see the beginning of a downward trend. I'm hopeful Region 7 (Will and Kankakee counties) will become a testament to the community's ability to turn the ship in the right direction,” Pritzker said.
Local businesses are hurting from the clampdown, which also closes bars and restaurants at 11 p.m. and limits gatherings to 25 people or 25% of capacity, among other mitigations.
“Now that we know it will take three consecutive days of a 6.5% or below positivity rate, it makes it all the more important to follow the three W's of watching our social distancing, wearing our masks properly, and washing our hands frequently,” Will County Health Department spokesman Steve Brandy said.
Pritzker took aim at anyone “discounting” or diminishing the virus' impact.
“I know lots of people think, 'Well, gee, somebody (with COVID-19) didn't have to go to the hospital or they didn't die — so there's nothing to it.' That's just not accurate,” he said.
“Guess what: When people are not wearing masks, when people are just running around asymptomatic and if they're not getting tested but they are positive — they're spreading it to other people.”
Bradley University in Peoria imposed a 14-day quarantine of its entire student body Tuesday after an outbreak of nearly 50 positive cases, many traceable to students socializing without masks or physical distancing, officials said.
“We're carefully watching outbreaks on college campuses,” Pritzker said, adding that colleges need to prepare for quarantines, contact tracing, and isolating people so students are not “giving it to each other in the dormitories.”
Illinois' statewide test positivity rate is 3.8% using a seven-day average, and the daily rate is 4%. Labs reported 48,982 tests in the last 24 hours.
Since the pandemic began, there have been 8,242 deaths in Illinois and 255,643 infections recorded.
The average number of daily virus cases for the last two weeks was 2,022, a 5.2% increase from the average of 1,922 from Aug. 14 to 27.
Deaths from the suburbs included: Cook County — two men in their 60s and a woman in her 70s; Kane County — a woman in her 80s and another in her 90s; Lake County — a man in his 70s; and Will County — a woman in her 40s, a man in his 60s, and a man in his 90s.