[ad_1]
The Illinois Department of Public Health said some data reported to the IDPH is delayed from weekends, including the past holiday weekend. The state also announced 9,757 new confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus.
“A higher number of cases and a higher number of hospitalizations lead, tragically, to even more lives lost,” said Governor JB Pritzker.
WATCH: Illinois doctor advocates for public help in controlling spread of COVID-19
The total number of cases in Illinois now stands at 748,603, with a total of 12,639 deaths.
Over a 24-hour period, officials said the state processed 85,507 specimens. A total of 10,699,586 samples have been tested since the start of the pandemic in Illinois.
The statewide seven-day pre-test positivity from November 25 to December 1 is 12.5%.
The test’s positivity rate is a measure the state began providing in late October. It is calculated using the total number of positive tests out of the total number of tests. It is the metric used by state health officials to make decisions about mitigations.
As of Tuesday evening, 5,764 people in Illinois were reportedly hospitalized for COVID-19. Of these, 1,190 patients were in intensive care with COVID-19 and 714 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
RELATED: Illinois Coronavirus Test: Where To Get Tested For COVID-19 In The Illinois, Chicago Area
Governor JB Pritzker and Dr Ngozi Ezeke honored frontline healthcare workers on Wednesday by scoring the highest total of COVID-19 deaths per day since the start of the pandemic.
“To these 238 families, friends and loved ones, as well as to the thousands of others who came before them, I offer my deepest and deepest condolences,” Governor Pritzker said. “This pandemic has robbed someone of your life too soon.”
And there are other worrying steps ahead of what could be a post-Thanksgiving surge. Only 19% of the state’s intensive care beds are available, below the 20% warning threshold.
The number of non-ICU beds is also at worrying levels in many pass counties, and even worse in parts of the upstate.
“This recent increase in cases has put a strain on the number of available hospital beds, especially intensive care beds, which could impact the care of patients, including those with non-COVID illnesses.” said Dr. Christopher Farrar, medical director of Anderson Hospital near St. Louis.
There is good news, however. Officials say the average length of hospital stays is about two days shorter than it was in the spring.
“We know you have a much better chance of surviving COVID-19 in hospital now compared to the first wave,” said Dr Ezike.
Governor Pritzker also updated the state’s vaccine distribution plan, saying the state could receive its first doses as early as two weeks, with priority given to counties most affected.
WATCH: Who will have top priority for COVID-19 vaccines in Illinois?
“We will be distributing vaccines proportional to population throughout the state so that no one is left behind by belonging to a more rural area, for example, or a more urban area,” the governor said. Pritzker. “It’s really going to be divided according to population, although priorities will be given up front to counties that have had the highest per capita death rates.”
Days after millions of Thanksgiving trips, state officials on Wednesday expressed support for new CDC guidelines reducing the quarantine timeframe from 14 days to 7 days with a negative test, and 10 days without a test. The goal is to increase compliance.
“There’s a phrase, I guess, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” Dr. Ezike said. “If everyone does the 10 days, when they’re quarantined for those 10 days, we’re going to have 90-99% of these infections. Would I like to have 100? Of course.
WATCH: New CDC quarantine guidelines welcomed by Roseland Hospital
Some hospital systems are also expressing support for this shorter quarantine period, as it will allow some healthcare workers to return to work earlier when staffing is critical.
For a safety net hospital like the new Roseland Community Hospital, the CDC’s relaxation of its quarantine guidelines was right on time.
“So we can get these valuable physician and nurse employees back to work,” said Tim Egan, the new president and CEO of Roseland Community Hospital. “It’s a big help.”
Still plagued by staffing issues despite the addition of more professionals, having to put aside medical staff exposed to those infected with COVID-19 has strained the capacity of the South Side facility to take care of their patients.
“A lot of nurses, respiratory therapists and doctors are exposed because we are overwhelmed by this COVID surge,” said Dr. Victoria Brander, director of COVID-19 preparedness at Roseland Hospital.
The Centers for Disease Control published new guidelines reducing the number of quarantine days 14 to 7 to 10 days after exposure to a person positive for COVID-19.
If exposed to COVID-19, an individual can end the quarantine after 7 days if they receive a negative test result, or must remain isolated for 10 days without being tested.
“The data is actually pretty good,” Dr. Brander said. “The data comes from internal data from the Centers for Disease Control as well as from a very large study recently published in ‘The Lancet’, which is the first British medical journal where they have followed thousands of people.”
The new directive also calls for testing for silent spread or those who are infected but do not show symptoms, including essential workers, educators, shift workers and some students.
Officials at Roseland Hospital say they have performed more than 20,000 COVID-19 tests since April and hope the new rules, coupled with a vaccine, will help defeat the virus.
“It helps us manage this front line which is so critical, in dealing with this vile virus that this directive is sure to help us in this battle,” Egan said.
WATCH: Legal analyst Gil Soffer discusses upcoming COVID-19 vaccine
Deaths reported on Wednesday include:
– Adams County: 1 man from the 80s, 1 man from the 90s
– Alexander County: 1 60s woman, 1 60s man
– County of Boone: 1 woman from the 1970s
– Bureau County: 3 men from the 70s, 1 woman from the 80s
– County of Calhoun: 1 woman from the 1960s
– Clay County: 1 woman from the 1970s
– County Clinton: 1 woman from the 90s
– Coles County: 1 man from the 90s
– Cook County: 3 women 40 years old, 1 man 40 years old, 1 woman 50 years old, 5 men 50 years old, 3 women 60 years old, 4 men 60 years old, 9 women 70 years old, 19 men 70 years old, 8 women 80 years old, 5 men 80, 8 women 90, 5 men 90s
– Cumberland County: 1 woman from the 80s
– County of DuPage: 1 man 50 years old, 2 men 60 years old, 1 woman 70 years old, 5 men 70 years old, 2 men 80 years old, 1 woman 90 years old,
– Edgar County: 1 man from the 90s
– County of Effingham: 1 man from the 1960s
– County of Fayette: 1 woman from the 70s, 1 woman from the 80s
– Franklin County: 1 woman from the 90s
– Grundy County: 1 man from the 80s, 1 woman from the 90s
– Hamilton County: 1 man from the 1970s
– County of Hancock: 1 man from the 80s
– County of Hardin: 1 man from the 80s
– Henry County: 1 70s man, 1 90s woman, 1 90s man
– Iroquois County: 2 men from the 80s
– Jasper County: 1 woman from the 1960s
– Jefferson County: 1 woman from the 70s, 2 women from the 80s,
– County of Jo Daviess: 1 woman from the 1960s
– County of Kane: 1 man 50 years old, 1 man 60 years old, 1 woman 80 years old, 2 men 80 years old, 1 man 90 years old, 1 man 100 years old and over
– County of Kankakee: 1 woman from the 80s, 2 men from the 80s, 2 women from the 90s
– Kendall County: 2 men from the 1980s, 1 man aged 100 and over
– County Knox: 1 woman from the 1970s, 1 man from the 1970s
– Lake County: 1 man 50 years old, 4 men 60 years old, 2 women 70 years old, 3 men 70 years old, 2 women 80 years old, 1 man 80 years old, 1 woman 90 years old
– County of LaSalle: 2 women from the 80s, 2 men from the 80s, 1 woman from the 90s
– Lawrence County: 1 woman from the 1970s
– Lee County: 1 woman from the 80s
– Livingston County: 1 60s woman, 1 70s woman, 1 80s man, 3 90s women, 1 90s man
– Logan County: 1 woman from the 80s
– County of Macon: 1 woman from the 80s, 1 man from the 80s, 1 woman from the 90s, 1 man from the 90s
– Macoupin County: 1 woman from the 1970s
– Madison County: 1 woman from the 80s, 1 woman from the 90s
– Marion County: 2 women from the 60s, 2 women from the 70s, 1 man from the 70s, 1 woman from the 80s, 1 woman from the 90s
– Marshall County: 1 woman from the 1970s
– County of Massac: 1 woman from the 80s
– McHenry County: 1 woman from the 1970s, 1 woman from the 1980s, 3 men from the 1980s, 1 woman from the 1990s, 2 men from the 1990s
– County of Menard: 1 woman from the 70s
– Mercer County: 1 man from the 1970s
– County Monroe: 1 woman from the 80s
– Morgan County: 1 woman from the 70s, 1 man from the 80s, 1 woman from the 90s
– Moultrie County: 1 man from the 80s
– County of Ogle: 1 man 90 years old, 1 woman 100 years and over
– Peoria County: 2 men from the 80s
– County of Perry: 1 woman from the 1970s
– County of Pike: 2 women from the 80s
– Rock Island County: 2 men from the 60s, 1 man from the 70s, 1 woman from the 80s
– County of Saline: 1 man from the 70s
– Sangamon County: 1 woman from the 80s
– County of St. Clair: 1 man 60 years old, 1 woman 70 years old, 1 man 70 years old, 1 woman 90 years old
– County of Tazewell: 1 man 70 years old, 1 man 80 years old, 1 man 90 years old
– Vermilion County: 1 woman from the 1970s, 1 man from the 1990s
– Whiteside County: 1 70s man, 1 80s woman
– Will County: 1 60s woman, 3 70s men, 1 80s woman, 1 80s man, 1 90s woman
– County of Winnebago: 1 woman 50 years old, 1 man 50 years old, 1 man 60 years old, 1 man 70 years old, 1 woman 80 years old, 5 men 80 years old, 1 man 90 years old
– County of Woodford: 1 man 50 years old, 1 man 70 years old
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2020 WLS-TV. All rights reserved.
[ad_2]
Source link