Hospitals in Kane and DuPage counties are dealing with a huge spike in coronavirus patients about a month into an ever-growing new wave of the virus, public health data shows.
The number of new coronavirus cases being reported each day in those counties started to explode in early October, and coronavirus-related hospitalizations have followed a similar trend, according to statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
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Throughout the second half of September, Kane County’s seven-day rolling average of daily cases hovered between 60 and 75. That figure skyrocketed to 595 cases Thursday, 10 times higher than it was Oct. 2 (59.1 cases).
Over the same six-week period, the number of people in Region 8 who were hospitalized with coronavirus-related illnesses grew from 12 to 60, a 400 percent increase.
Statewide, hospitalizations for coronavirus-related illnesses climbed by more than 10 percent between Monday and Wednesday nights, according to public health data. More than 5,250 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 Wednesday in Illinois.
Seven of the state’s 11 coronavirus-management regions are seeing high hospitalization number than they did in the spring, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said earlier this week. Region 8 was one of the four regions that had not surpassed its previous hospitalization record by Wednesday.
On Thursday, the availability of medical/surgical beds in Region 8 hospitals dropped below the state’s 20 percent threshold for the first time in months. Eighteen percent of those beds were available Thursday, along with 33 percent of beds in intensive care units, public health data shows.
Kane County has been under “Tier 2” restrictions since Wednesday after the positivity rate in Region 8 continued to surge despite additional mitigations in place since Oct. 23.
Tier 1 restrictions include an indoor dining ban on restaurants and bars, as well as a limit on social gatherings. Tier 2 restrictions limit party sizes for outdoor dining to six people instead of 10, while gatherings and groups participating in organized recreational activities will be limited to 10 people instead of 25.
The new limits do not apply to students learning in person or fitness centers, according to the IDPH.
The overall positivity rate in Region 8 rose to 15.1 percent Monday. Additional Tier 3 restrictions, including a suspension of elective surgeries and procedures, could be imposed if Region 8’s positivity-rate surge continues over the next two weeks.
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