According to an analysis by the New York Times, the Bloomington-Normal area is the country’s No. 3 metro area per capita, with new COVID-19 cases growing the fastest.
McLean County added about 1,400 new cases in the past week, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. Enough to make Bloomington-Normal 3rd in the New York Times list of metro areas, based on population-adjustment, new cases are growing the fastest. The list goes on to say “there may be bad news ahead.”
Illinois has several downstate metro areas on the list, including the Springfield and Ttva-Peru area. This week Illinois (and McLean County) began reporting both confirmed and probable cases, citing new CDC guidelines. It is unclear whether this has affected the New York Times rankings.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 spread at Illinois State University is growing.
ISU has registered 136 new COVID-positive students in the past week, including 35 more on Wednesday alone. ISU’s campus test positivity rate has reached 8.2%.
However, ISU is meeting its weekly testing target of 1,500 students. Its 1,655 students have been tested in the past week.
The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) did not release new COVID-19 data Wednesday, citing Veterans Day leave.
State data indicate that 42nd seaweed-related deaths have occurred in McLean County. Details are expected to be released by MCHD on Thursday.
The county’s test positivity rate (7-day average) is also rising rapidly, hitting 9.2% as of Monday (last data available). Despite that McLean County test, on average last week, more than 1,300 people a day, mostly at a busy interstate center in West Bloomington. That location now averages 986 people a day.
Hospital hospitalization is also on the rise.
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