Bloomington-Normal’s intensive care beds have nearly reached capacity even as the county’s active coronavirus caseload drops to its lowest level in six weeks.
The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) said Wednesday 96% of ICU beds are in use, matching the highest mark since the department started reporting hospital data in mid-November.
MCHD said 89% of all beds are occupied as 74 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in the Twin Cities. Eighteen of those hospitalized are McLean County residents.
The county reported its 86th COVID-related death, a man in his 90s who was associated with a long-term care facility.
The health department announced 16 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases--the lowest one-day total since Oct. 15. The county reported 969 people are isolating at home. The total of 985 active cases is the first daily count below 1,000 since Nov. 9.
Eighty-three patients have completed their time in quarantine over the last 24 hours, to bring the county’s recovery total to 9,794.
McLean County’s seven-day testing positivity rate dropped to 7.2%. That's the county's lowest percentage since Nov. 4 and is below state and national averages. The county’s cumulative positivity rate remains 6.4%, based on more than 169,200 tests conducted.
The COVID testing site at the Interstate Center in Bloomington will be open Christmas Eve from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and closed on Christmas Day. Otherwise, the site run by Reditus Labs is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
MCHD has said it will not post daily coronavirus numbers during the Christmas holiday. The next update will be Dec. 28.
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