Southern Seven: All area counties return to orange warning level

The Illinois Department of Public Health, IDPH, on Friday, Dec. 10, announced all of the counties served by the Southern Seven Health Department have returned to the orange warning level status on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) risk metrics.

Union, Alexander, Johnson, Pope, Pulaski, Hardin and Massac counties are served by Southern Seven Health Department.

The amount of new cases per 100,000 people, test positivity percentage metrics and declining ICU bed availability are causing the elevated risk levels.

According to IDPH, an orange designation indicates warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk in the community. 

The health department is asking area residents to remain vigilant to slow the spread of the virus.

A warning for new case rate indicates the rate is greater than 50 cases per 100,000 people.  

A warning for test positivity indicates that the percentage was above 8 percent from the previous seven-day period. 

A warning for ICU availability shows the number of ICU beds has dropped below a 20 percent availability threshold.

The new cases per 100,000 people rate is a unit of measure calculated as a rate to compare the number of cases in large and small counties.  

The rate is calculated by dividing the county case count for seven days by county population times 100,000.  

This describes the potential number of people who are currently ill and may be infectious in the county.  

Union County had 428 potential new cases (based on 72 positive cases) per 100,000 reported. The test positivity percentage for the county was 5.8 percent out of 1,443 tests. ICU availability was 11.7 percent.

Eight different indicators are used to determine a county’s designation.   

A county is considered at the orange warning level when at least two of the main indicators are going in the wrong direction. 

“Hospitalizations for COVID-19 are on the rise again across the Southern Seven region,” Southern Seven Health Department COVID-19 community outreach coordinator Nathan Ryder said in a news release.

“Following the Thanksgiving holiday we’ve seen the number of COVID infections increase while our regional ICU bed availability has started dropping.”

Southern Seven Health Department continues to urge area residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19.