As a grim milestone is reached, new CoViD-19 cases continue to be tallied throughout southeastern Illinois. It was announced Friday that 1 in 500 Americans have now died from CoViD-19 or complications due to the coronavirus. Over at Deaconess in Evansville, hospitalized patients number at 151, 135 of them unvaccinated; 55 are in the ICU, 53 of them not vaccinated; and 37 on ventilators, all but 2 unvaccinated. Throughout southern Illinois, last week at one point there were zero beds available due to the influx in coronavirus patients. The second surge began in July according to data and has shown no real signs of slowing down locally. A new high of 58 cases was reported just two weeks ago in White County and Friday, 17 new cases were reported as was another death. Gallatin County also lost a resident due to coronavirus complications the Egyptian Health Department says. Of the new cases reported Friday, 9 are females, only one in her teens, but that case comes with 4 new male teens who have tested positive in White County. Teens and younger have been the lion’s share of cases in the latest surge. While just over 54% of Illinoisans are fully vaccinated, counties in our region are far behind that figure. In White County, just 35% of the population is fully vaccinated. 32% of Wayne Countians are inoculated. In Hamilton County, the rate is less than 29%.
The latest information from Deaconess and information from Egyptian Health Department regarding Booster Immunizations is below: