The Marion County Health Department is reporting two new COVID-19 deaths and a large number of new cases on Monday and Tuesday.
The department reports the deaths were a male and female in their 80s that were both positive for COVID-19. One was a long term care resident. There have now been 95 deaths in Marion County.
Statewide there were 116 additional deaths, including four others in South Central Illinois. They include a male in his 60s and a female in her 90s in Clinton County and females in their 60s and 80s in Fayette County. There have now been 75 deaths in Clinton County and 47 deaths in Fayette County.
The health department is also reporting 114 new cases on Monday and Tuesday. They include five long term care residents and ten students. Three of the students were in school during their infectious period and contact tracing is underway. The health department considers 63 of the cases as community spread and 51 spread from household or close contacts.
There are now 451 active cases in Marion County, including 21 in the hospital. Of those four are on ventilators. There were no additional recoveries over the two day period, with a total of 2,365 who have recovered. The number of overall positive cases is now listed at 2,911.
The Clinton County Health Department is reporting 58 new positive cases on Tuesday. There are currently 419 on home isolation and nine who are hospitalized.
The Jefferson County Health Department reported 37 new positive cases, including one in a long-term care facility. There are 313 currently in isolation.
The Washington County Health Department is reporting 24 new cases Saturday through Monday. There are currently 124 active cases, including 42 linked to outbreaks and two who are hospitalized.
The Fayette County Health Department is reporting 11 new positive cases. The Clay County Health Department had five new cases on Monday. The Wayne County Health Department had 19 lab-confirmed cases on Tuesday. There are currently 163 in isolation and two hospitalized.
Statewide, there were 6,239 new cases. The statewide positivity rate for the past week dropped to 7.4-percent. The Southern Illinois Region positivity rate is 12.1-percent for the seven days ending December 19th. The Marion County rate increased to 9.1-percent. The Metro East Region is at 11.6-percent. The East Central Illinois Region is at 9-percent.
