BOURBONNAIS — Believe it or not, the Will-Kankakee Region 7 is now the number one region in the state, for all the wrong reasons.
Tuesday, the region cracked the 20% mark for the first time recording a record high seven-day rolling positivity rating of 20.3%, becoming the highest ranking region in the state of Illinois for positivity. Region 1, the Rockford region, is a close second with a weekly positivity of 20%.
Rockford had previously held the title for weeks before falling to 20.0% Tuesday afternoon. Region 1 hit a record 20.9% Nov. 12th.
The news should come at no shock as cases continue to climb in the area with limited mitigation efforts enforced. A total of 4,081 new cases have been reported in Region 7 since last Friday, including 754 cases in Kankakee and 3,327 new cases in Will County.
The rise in recent cases has local officials scrambling to bring numbers down, tasked with re-educating the public on basic COVID-19 mitigation practices and facts while too many elected leaders keep mum on the subject.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported Tuesday afternoon 12,601 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, including 97 additional deaths. Among the 97 deaths included five residents of Will and Kankakee counties.
