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Bloomington-Normal hospitals are treating more COVID patients than ever before

COVID vaccine needle
Nam Y. Huh
/
AP
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), 58.7% of McLean County residents are fully vaccinated. The statewide rate is 61.2%.

There are more COVID-19 patients receiving care in Bloomington-Normal hospitals than at any time during the 2-year-old pandemic.

The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) reported Thursday that Carle BroMenn and OSF St. Joseph medical centers have 70 COVID patients in their beds. That includes patients from outside McLean County. Just 2% of their beds are open and 11% of the intensive care beds are unclaimed.

Fifty-three McLean County residents are hospitalized with COVID. That's up three from Wednesday and double the total from one month ago.

 McLean County Health Department COVID-19 data
McLean County Health Department
The McLean County Health Department announced 697 new coronavirus cases on Thursday.

The number of active coronavirus cases in the county dropped by 1,006 since Wednesday as people who were recently infected are out of quarantine. MCHD indicated 5,027 active cases while another 1,703 people completed their time in quarantine and 33,809 people are considered recovered since the start of the pandemic.

In McLean County, 320 residents have died of COVID-related illnesses since March 2020. New daily cases have kept pace with record numbers the county has tallied in recent weeks, with 697 positives.

The county's seven-day testing positive rate dropped to 17.8%, still well above state averages.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), 58.7% of McLean County residents are fully vaccinated. The statewide rate is 61.2%. McLean County’s highest vaccination rate is among people 65 and older at 92.2%. People ages 12 to 17 and 18 to 64 have been vaccinated at a nearly 62% clip. Children ages 5 to 11 have been vaccinated at a rate of 18.9%.

Eric Stock is the News Director at WGLT. You can contact Eric at ejstoc1@ilstu.edu.
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