SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Coronavirus hospitalizations have been leveling off over the past few days, but hospital beds remain in short supply in some places.
On Tuesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,263 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 547 in intensive care. That is the lowest number since July.
Governor JB Pritzker expressed optimism, while also expressing the importance of the indoor mask mandate.
"They haven't come down. They have subsided a little, they have flattened a bit - not the case numbers, necessarily, but the hospitalizations - so I am pleased about that; but until they start to come down the other side of this, we can't lighten up on our mitigations. If you want to keep your business open, if you want to keep the economy going, we need people to wear masks," Pritzker said.
Even though COVID-19 hospitalizations appear to be leveling off, more severe COVID-19 cases, largely among the unvaccinated, are putting a strain on hospitals.
IDPH officials also reported Tuesday that five of the state's 11 health regions have less than 20 percent of staffed ICU beds available.
On Monday, in southern Illinois, there were no ICU beds available in a region of about 400,000 people with 19 hospitals.
In Chicago and suburban Cook County about 20 percent of ICU beds were available. And in suburban Lake and McHenry counties, only 14 percent of ICU beds were available. Overall, in much of the state, ICU availability is about 20 percent.
Meanwhile, IDPH reported 4,660 new cases of COVID-19 and 40 more deaths, bringing the state's total cases to 1,578,198 with 24,407 deaths. The state's seven-day case positivity rate is at 4.5 percent.
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