Broader restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus appear unlikely to return to specific parts of Illinois, even as .
That includes all of Illinois Department of Public Health regions four and five, which include the counties that comprise the Metro East and southern Illinois.
Both regions have persistent COVID positivity rates more than 8% and sustained COVID-19 hospitalization increases, .
But Illinois is no longer in that specific mitigation plan, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during his
鈥淲e live in a world now where there are vaccinations available to everybody,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e're simply taking advantage of what we think will work for the most vulnerable populations to keep them safe.鈥�
Pritzker emphasized the state is focused on mitigating the spread of the virus among those who are more susceptible to it, mainly children under 12 who aren鈥檛 eligible for vaccinations, teenagers who haven鈥檛 gotten their shots yet and those living in long-term care facilities.
Restrictions beyond the ones announced last week are off the table, he added.
鈥淲e monitor the numbers very closely, and we make adjustments as necessary,鈥� Pritzker said. 鈥淧eople should go get vaccinated, that is the most important thing you can do to give yourself, your community, your school safe.鈥�
, but the percentage of those who are fully vaccinated remains in the 40s for St. Clair and Madison counties.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going the way we like to see it,鈥� St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing a slight uptick in the first-time doses, which is good.鈥�
Simmons is still frustrated by the rising number of infections across St. Clair County and the Metro East.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really ridiculous that we鈥檙e having to go through this again, because we have a tool available to us,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese masks are going to be around for a long time.鈥�
Hospitals in the Metro East have capacity to handle more COVID patients, though the number of beds occupied by them has nearly doubled from July 19 to Aug. 2, according to data from IDPH.
Intensive care units in the Metro East are 75% full, but public health officials and hospitals stress that includes people with conditions other than severe COVID.
Some hospitals in the Metro East are sending their most severe COVID patients to facilities in St. Louis as cases spread throughout the bi-state, said Dr. Zafar Jamkhana, ICU medical director for SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital.
鈥淎 couple months ago, I would have said I have a patient who has COVID,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow at least half of the patients that I鈥檓 caring for have COVID or have presented with it.鈥�
The patients who are transferred are those who aren鈥檛 responding to normal treatment and need a higher standard that SLU hospital can provide, Jamhkana said. He added the majority of patients he鈥檚 seeing fit with broader national trends of younger people and those who are unvaccinated.
鈥�20-year-olds, 30-year-olds. I鈥檓 shocked,鈥� Jamkhana said. 鈥淭hat is quite striking.鈥�
Eric Schmid covers the Metro East for 漏 2024 外网天堂 as part of the journalism grant program: , an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.
