'Frighteningly Limited' ICU Beds In IL As COVID Surges: Pritzker

ILLINOIS — Days after asking residents and health care providers to postpone elective procedures, Gov. J.B. Pritzker painted a dire picture as he described the "frighteningly limited" number of ICU beds available in the event of emergencies such as heart attacks and car crashes.

Bed availability is in the single digits in three Illinois regions, Pritzker said during a news conference Monday. That includes Region 7, encompassing Will and Kankakee counties, which had just six available ICU beds and was at 95 percent ICU capacity as of Monday.

Statewide, 316 of the 2,977 ICU beds were available on Monday afternoon. A total of 1,086, or more than a third of those in the ICU, are COVID-19 patients, according to state health data.

More than 650 of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are on ventilators, IDPH reported.

And with the holidays over and Illinois entering a new year, the governor worried that the situation will worsen.

"I fear the climb will continue as the virus incubates in those who were exposed at the end of December," Pritzker said.

On Twitter, he urged residents to get vaccinated, get their booster shots and continue to wear a mask.

Illinois has been averaging around 23,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, according to IDPH data. Last week, the state exceeded 30,000 cases in a single day, breaking a previous record.

On Monday, IDPH reported 20,866 new cases coming out of another holiday weekend, when testing tends to lag, along with 30 deaths. The statewide positivity rate stands at 12.8 percent.

Meanwhile, Advocate Aurora said COVID-19 hospitalization rates have hit a pandemic high at its facilities. As of Sunday, 1,426 people were hospitalized at the 26 Advocate Aurora hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin — a number that has doubled in less than a month.

Last week, Illinois pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations were up 38 percent.

As winter break ends, some school districts are reverting back to remote learning as they are hit by COVID-19-related staffing shortages, and Illinois Secretary of State facilities are currently closed due to the virus.

Several Chicago-area Walmart stores have also shut down for deep cleaning amid rising coronavirus cases.

Related:

COVID-19 Tests In Short Supply: How To Find One In Illinois

IL Sees Most COVID-19 Hospitalizations Of 2021 As Omicron Surges