PEORIA, Ill. — Intensive care unit bed capacity remained the concern Wednesday for Region Two.
Of all four metrics that must be met by the region in order for the Illinois Department of Public Health to move it to tier two mitigation from tier three, that is the one that was not being met.
For the second consecutive day, the region had an ICU bed capacity of under 20%, with 19.1%. A region must have a capacity of over 20% for three consecutive days.
The Peoria City/County Health Department said 56 people throughout Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford Counties were in ICU beds with the coronavirus or with suspected cases of it. Overall, 177 tri-county residents were in hospitals for virus reasons.
Med/surg capacity for the region was at 27.3%, the 11th straight day of a capacity above 20%. The region’s rolling seven-day positivity rate was down to 9.6%, and the region was at nine consecutive days of patient decreases in hospitals.
Five people between Tuesday and Wednesday within the tri-county passed away from COVID complications.
A Peoria County woman in her 80s who lived at University Rehab died. In Tazewell County, a woman in her 70s and man in his 80s who lived at Lakeside Rehab died, as did a man in his 90s who resided at Hallmark Healthcare, and a female in her 90s who did not live in long-term care.
Overall, 224 positive cases arose. 130 of them were in Tazewell, 80 were in Peoria, and 14 were in Woodford.
