While Illinois health officials reported the largest single-day increase in the state’s COVID-19 vaccine supply on Tuesday, they also noted a significant increase in hospitalizations for respiratory illnesses.
Another 454,410 doses of the vaccine have been added to the Illinois supply, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
But hospitalizations also increased by more than 7.4% over the previous day, worrying many public health officials.
“Even when we are receiving more and more doses of vaccine, we cannot let our guard down, especially with these new virulent strains circulating,” said IDPH director Ngozi Ezike.
Since the vaccine’s launch began in mid-December, Illinois has received 6,211,205 doses of the three types of approved vaccines. During that period, 77.6% of these doses went into the arms of Illinois residents and workers, according to state data.
IDPH officials reported that an additional 70,252 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Illinois in the past 24 hours.
This raises the total number of inoculations carried out across the state to 4,818,097. Vaccine providers are giving an average of 91,000 inoculations a day.
Hospitals across the state have reported that they are treating 1,270 patients with COVID-19 infections. Of those hospitalized, 272 are in intensive care. Both numbers are noticeably higher than the previous day’s totals.
State hospitals notified 88 new patients with COVID-19 the day before. The hospitals added 138 COVID-19 patients in the past two days. This is the biggest two-day growth in hospitalizations since the beginning of January.
There were also 39 more patients with COVID-19 in ICU beds than the day before, according to state data. This is the biggest single-day increase since December 8. But at that time there were almost 1,200 patients with COVID-19 in ICU beds, compared with less than 300 being treated in ICUs today.
The increase in hospitalizations has not gone unnoticed by the state health authorities.
“We have come so far and we are so close to a more normal time, but we are already seeing some worrying plateaus and even increases in hospitalizations and cases,” said Ezike. “We are not out of danger yet, so continue to wear your masks, avoid large crowds and keep six feet away.”
It has been almost a month since so many patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized across the state, according to IDPH data.
The state is divided into 11 health regions that help health authorities determine the need for mitigation initiatives if cases and hospitalizations grow above established levels.
Cook County Region 10 in the suburbs saw increases in the seven-day moving average of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in nine of the past 10 days. Hospitals in the suburbs of Cook County now have an average of 356 patients a day being treated for COVID-19 infections. A week ago, the region’s average seven days was 322 patients.
Region 9, which contains Lake and McHenry counties, has seen increases in the hospitalization rate over the past four days. Hospitals in these two counties are treating 55 patients with COVID-19 daily, compared with 49 on March 18.
Regions 1 and 2, which span more than two dozen counties in the northwestern part of the state, have also seen peaks in hospitalizations in recent weeks, according to IDPH records.
IDPH officials also reported on Tuesday that an additional 13 Illinois residents died from COVID-19, while the daily count of new cases was 1,832.
The number of deaths in the state from respiratory diseases is now 21,116, and 1,224,915 have been infected since the start of the pandemic.
Chicago public health officials have updated travel orders, which require people arriving from certain states to provide proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test or a mandatory 10-day quarantine. Michigan is now on that list.
Dr. Alison Arwady, a commissioner in the Chicago Department of Public Health, said that all public health departments are looking at not only raw numbers, but also growth rates for all metrics.
“These are things that are predictive of a potential problem,” she said. “If we see a huge increase in cases not accompanied by an increase in hospitalization or death, I don’t worry so much about it.”
The positivity rate for seven-day cases in the state is now 2.5%. This has decreased slightly from the previous day, but it is still higher than just a week ago. The positivity of the case shows the percentage of tests that resulted in new cases of the disease. An average of seven days is used to smooth out any anomalies in the daily report of new cases and tests.