Rising COVID hospitalizations big concern for the state’s top doctor

Posted on August 26, 2021
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. (WJBC file photo)

By WJBC Staff

SPRINGFIELD – The state’s top public health doctor says one of the biggest concerns right now is the surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations.

About 220 people with COVID-19 are being admitted to Illinois hospitals each day, the highest level since May.

State Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said the situation is very serious in many areas of the state. Take region five, for example, in far southern Illinois, where the vaccination rate is the lowest, and only one ICU bed is available as of Tuesday.

“And that’s not just one bed, on ICU bed for a COVID patient; that’s one ICU bed in the entire region for the 20 counties that it serves for anyone. Whether it’s appendicitis, a car crash, any kind of injury that would need a bed.”

At the latest count, nearly 2,200 Illinois COVID patients were in the hospital, including 489 people on ventilators.

“The number of people in Illinois ICU with COVID is seven times higher than it was at our low point this summer, just at July 7,” added Dr. Ezike. “At the rate, we’re going, region five will not have any ICU beds as soon as tomorrow (Friday) and potentially next week for region four.”

Gov. JB Pritzker said in a press conference on Thursday that there are not enough health care workers to handle the influx of patients in some parts of the state.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].

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