Suburban Cook County Coronavirus Positivity Falls To 5.2 Percent

COOK COUNTY, IL — Most regions of Illinois reported a decline in the percentage of coronavirus tests that are coming back positive for the second consecutive week in a row, while the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state fell by more than 8.5 percent, according to public health officials.

Suburban Cook County, Region 10 among the state's coronavirus mitigation regions, has seen its positivity rate fall from 6.9 percent at the start of the month to 5.2 percent this week. That marks the region's lowest rate of positivity since July 22.

And for the first time this week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker relaxed additional mitigation measures his administration has imposed on regions with sustained high rates of coronavirus positivity.

In Region 7, made up of Will and Kankakee counties, bars and restaurants were cleared to resume indoor service Friday, the governor announced.

"Let that be a testament to the power of a community that embraces doctor-recommended mitigations proven to reduce risk and slow the spread," Pritzker said in a statement.

In Region 4, the only other region to have broken the key 8-percent positivity rate threshold that prompts additional restrictions on businesses and activity, the rate dropped 2 percentage points to 8 percent for the first time since Aug. 10, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health through Tuesday, the most recent available.

Of the four regions of the state that showed increasing positivity rates, Region 1, the Rockford area, had the largest increase, rising by 0.8 percentage points. However, the rate remains at a lower level that it was at the start of September.

In Region 5, the Marion emergency medical services region in Southern Illinois, the positivity rate was up on five of the preceding 10 days, rising by 0.6 percentage points to 6.9. That makes it the region most at risk of becoming the next to see new mitigation measures.

If a region has a positivity rate above 8 percent for three or more days in a row, public health officials have imposed additional measures to slow the spread of the virus.

New restrictions can also be triggered by a trend of seven days of increasing positivity rates combined with metrics showing hospitalizations rising rapidly — availability of hospital beds dropping below 20 percent of the rounded rolling average number of daily new hospital admissions with "COVID-like illnesses," or CLI, rising during seven or more of the past 10 days.

The Champaign area, Region 6, also saw a rising positivity rate, but the presence of the University of Illinois' twice-weekly comprehensive testing regime has resulted in it having the lowest rate of any region of the state.

Meanwhile, Region 8, consisting of Kane and DuPage counties, saw its positivity rate tick up by just 0.1 percentage points. Nonetheless, public health officials removed DuPage County from its list of counties at a warning level, which has declined to 24 and no longer includes any counties in the Chicago area.

Illinois counties at a warning level for the coronavirus disease are, as of Friday: Bond, Bureau, Cass, Clinton, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, DeWitt, Edwards, Effingham, Greene, Jasper, Jo Daviess, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Rock Island, St. Clair, Shelby, Washington, Wayne, Williamson, Wabash and Union, according to public health officials.

Common factors causing counties to reach the warning level — meaning two or more of the eight county-level risk indicators established by the state reaches a potentially dangerous level — include university and college parties and sports, large gatherings, bars, clubs, weddings, funerals, nursing homes, prisons, jails, factories and schools, according to a statement from the state public health agency.

"Some communities lack access to convenient testing before people become symptomatic," it said. "In some counties, local law enforcement and states' attorneys are not enforcing important mitigation measures like social distancing and the wearing of face coverings."

Public health officials Friday announced 2,120 new positive coronavirus test results out of nearly 62,000 reported in the preceding 24 hours. The preliminary rolling seven-day statewide positivity rate is 3.6 percent as a percentage of total tests completed rather than total people tested.

As of Thursday night, there were 1,481 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Illinois, according to the department, down by 138 compared to the prior week. Of those, the number of people in ICUs dropped by 30 to 329 while 149 people with COVID-19 were on ventilators in the state, six fewer than a week earlier.

Illinois Coronavirus Update Sept. 17: 268,207 Cases, 8,392 Deaths — Don't miss updates about precautions in the Chicago area as they are announced — Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

Data through Tuesday was released Friday. Find the latest metrics from all regions below:

Region 1 (Rockford EMS region)

• 6.4 percent coronavirus positivity on Sept. 15, up from 5.6 percent the prior week.
• Three new daily hospital admissions with "COVID-like illnesses," or CLI, on average in the past week, the same as the prior week
• 39 percent of surgical beds and 42 percent of ICU beds are available, compared to 43 percent of surgical beds and 46 percent of ICU beds a week earlier

Region 2 (Peoria EMS region)

• 5.9 percent positivity rate on Sept. 15, down by 1.1 percentage points compared to a week earlier
• 10 new hospital admissions a day with COVID-19 symptoms, the same as the prior week
• 39 percent of surgical beds and 38 percent of ICU beds are available, down from 42 percent of surgical beds and 44 percent of ICU beds last week

Region 3 (Springfield EMS region)

• 4.7 percent positivity rate on Sept. 15, down from 5.3 percent the week earlier
• Four new daily hospital admissions, up from three the previous four weeks
• 37 percent of surgical beds and 42 percent of ICU beds are available, compared to 38 percent of surgical beds and 39 percent of ICU beds a week earlier

Region 4 (Edwardsville EMS region)

• 8 percent positivity rate on Sept. 15, down by 2 percentage points in the preceding week. Three days of positivity below that threshold would allow the lifting of the additional restrictions imposed on the Metro East region in response to its high coronavirus positivity rates
• Five new daily hospital admissions with COVID-19 symptoms, down from six the previous week
• 31 percent of surgical beds and 42 percent of ICU beds are available, the same percentage of surgical beds and 1 percentage points fewer ICU beds compared to a week earlier

Region 5 (Marion EMS region)

• 6.9 percent positivity rate on Sept. 15, up by 0.6 percentage points last week
• Four new average daily hospital admissions, the same as a week earlier
• 45 percent of surgical beds and 64 percent of ICU beds are available, compared to 47 percent of surgical beds and 61 percent ICU beds the prior week

Region 6 (Champaign EMS region)

• 2.7 percent positivity rate on Sept. 15, up by 0.3 points compared to the prior week. The region's coronavirus positivity rate remains the lowest in the state, aided by the comprehensive testing being conducted by the University of Illinois
• Seven people a day, on average, are being admitted to the region's hospitals with symptoms of the virus, down from nine a week earlier
• 38 percent of surgical beds and 45 percent of ICU beds are available, an increase of 1 percentage points for surgical beds and 2 points for ICU beds over the past week

Region 7 (Will, Kankakee counties)

• 5.6 percent positivity rate on Sept. 15, down by 0.9 percentage points in the past week and more than 2 points over the past two weeks. On Friday, the Pritzker administration announced restrictions on indoor dining it imposed on the counties last month had been lifted as a result of the rate staying under the 8-percent threshold
• The rounded rolling average of the number of people newly admitted to hospitals with symptoms of COVID-19 fell from 11 to nine
• 30 percent of surgical beds and 34 percent of ICU beds were available at hospitals in the region, down from 33 percent of surgical beds and the same percentage of ICU beds a week earlier

Region 8 (Kane, DuPage counties)

• 5.5 percent coronavirus positivity rate on Sept. 15, up by 0.1 percentage points during the prior week DuPage County was taken off the state's coronavirus warning list.
• 11 people a day are being hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms, up from nine a week earlier
• 33 percent of surgical beds are available, 2 points more than last week, and 41 percent of beds in ICUs are available, 7 points fewer compared to the week earlier

Region 9 (Lake, McHenry counties)

• 5.7 percent positivity rate on Sept. 15, a decline of 0.7 percentage points compared to a week earlier. State public health officials last week removed Lake County from the list of counties at a warning level for a surge of cases
• Four new hospital admissions every day, down from seven the week before and nine two weeks ago
• 41 percent of surgical beds and 60 percent of ICU beds were available, the same number of surgical beds and 4 points more ICU beds compared to the prior week

Region 10 (Suburban Cook County)

• 5.2 percent positivity rate on Sept. 15, down by 0.8 percentage points in the preceding week and 1.7 points during the past two weeks
• 20 people a day admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 symptoms, on average, up from 19 a week earlier
• 29 percent of surgical beds were available, down by 1 points compared to the prior week, while availability of ICU beds increased by 4 points to 38 percent

Region 11 (Chicago)

• 4.9 percent positivity rate on Sept. 15, down by 0.2 percentage points during the prior week to fall below 5 percent for the first time since early August.
• The average number of people admitted to the city's hospitals with CLI fell from 19 ;to 16.
• 25 percent of surgical beds were available and 34 percent of ICU beds remained available, down from 27 percent of surgical beds and 39 percent of ICU beds a week earlier.