KANKAKEE – After nearly a week of positivity increases in Region 7 and hospitalizations admissions, decreases in both metrics came Sunday afternoon.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported Sunday Region 7 rolling seven-day positivity fell to 19.8%. It’s the first time since Tuesday the area has fallen below the 20% mark at a regional level. IDPH data for Thursday showed 5,310 residents had been tested for the virus in region seven on the day, resulting in 1,011 positives.
In Kankakee, the county remained above 20% on the rolling weekly average. Locally the county has not strayed from the mark since November 11th. The area fell out of the New York Times top five worst outbreaks in the Nation on Sunday, currently ranking #6 in the US. Will County, making up the other half of the Region, came in at a rolling average of 19.6% Sunday.
Good news came Saturday night when Illinois ended a streak of 27 consecutive days of hospital admission increases for COVID-19. Sunday afternoon, IDPH reported another 10,012 positives and probable in Illinois, including 76 deaths. There have now been over 650,000 cases in Illinois to date, including 11,506 deaths.
Locally, Region 7 remained within warning levels for hospitalization Sunday. Med Surg bed availability was at 14%, ICU availability now at 17%.
