I’ve just begun my second semester of medical school and I still can’t wrap my head around it. Becoming a physician has been my most treasured goal since I was a little girl, and starting medical school has put me so much closer to that reality. Medical school though isn’t exactly how I imagined it to be. Sure, I spend most waking hours studying, I’ve permanently damaged my posture, and the highlight of my day is squeezing in a podcast on my walk to study.

As of Sunday, January 10th there have been 102,903 tests resulted yesterday, including 83,108 molecular tests (81%), 16,871 antigen tests (16%), and 2,924 UIUC molecular saliva tests (3%). There were 6,717 newly confirmed or probable cases for a daily case positivity rate of 6.53%. Testing volumes have back been within the normal range for the past 5 days. With the return to normal testing, which decreased during the holidays, the positivity rate has decreased slightly. Now that the holidays are over, these normal testing levels will allow us to track our progress as a state more consistently.

As we kick off the New Year, positivity rates in Illinois have increased slightly. Some of this is due to decreased testing, as all regions are down considerably from three weeks ago. As of yesterday, January 2nd, 61,987 tests were logged, with zero saliva tests from UIUC over the past two weeks due to winter break, and only 5,590 antigen tests. 4,762 newly confirmed or probable cases were reported, for a daily case positivity rate of 7.68%.

Last week, large medical centers across the country started providing doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to their front-line staff. As a pharmacist immunizer, I was one of the first to administer vaccine to others in the employee vaccine clinic at my hospital. It was a dreamlike experience. I arrived early in the morning. Even before appointments began, the space was pulsing with energy. I was standing among the largest group of people I’d seen in one place in months.

It can happen to even those who are careful…

I recently went nearly 21 days without hugging my kids.  But with certainty I will say that I feel incredibly lucky. When my husband told me he was feeling off and was going to bed about a month ago,  I immediately texted him and told him to stay there.  I don’t know why, we hadn’t left the house for much in weeks, but I just had this feeling. Sure enough we found out the next day he had been exposed to COVID-19. Two days later he received a positive test result.

As of Saturday, December 19th, 96,851 new tests were logged including: 76,877 molecular tests (79%), 15,176 antigen (16%), and 4,798 UIUC molecular saliva testing (5%). There were 7,562 newly confirmed or probable cases for a daily case positivity rate of 7.81%. This marks 14 of the last 16 days with the case positivity rate In single digits and 5 of the last 6 days under 8%.

As of Saturday, December 12th, 126,388 tests were logged, which was an all-time high. This number included 105,319 molecular tests (83.0%), 13,646 antigen tests (10.8%), and 7,923 UIUC Molecular Saliva tests (6.2%). There were 8,737 newly confirmed or probable cases for a daily case positivity rate of 6.89%. This is the lowest the rate has been since the state posted a 6.44% rate on October 27th. Perhaps we may continue to see a downward trend if people continue to act responsibly over the holidays.

SARS-CoV-2 screening tests can help stem the tide of new infections. Unfortunately, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently stated that all SARS-CoV-2 screening tests must receive Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA and fulfill Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certification. Until December 3, screening tests did not need to meet these requirements.

I practice pulmonary and critical care medicine. In an effort to keep our outpatients safe during the initial COVID-19 surge in Chicago, we converted in-person clinic visits to video visits.   I was very concerned about the pulmonary clinic patients I see, as they tend to be more susceptible to all lung viruses, not just COVID, and often face severe disease.  During out video or telephone encounters, my colleagues and I urged our patients to do what we knew would help prevent them from contracting COVID – social distancing and wearing a mask.

As of Saturday, December 5th, there have 102,678 tests logged in the past 24 hours. This includes 82,805 molecular tests (80.6%), 13,311 antigen tests (13.0%), and 6,562 UIUC molecular saliva tests (6.4%). There are 9,887 newly confirmed or probable cases for a daily case positivity rate of 9.63%. Positivity is in a holding pattern right now after dropping from extreme highs two weeks ago.

Within the first three to four months of the COVID-19 pandemic, an estimated 186,000 workers in Illinois and their families lost their health insurance coverage due to job losses. Nationwide estimates in June 2020 suggest as many as 7.7 million workers and 6.9 million of their dependents lost employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) when they lost their jobs during the pandemic-induced recession.

Seven months ago, amidst the panic-buying, confusion, and mass uncertainty surrounding the onset Covid-19, I never would have predicted that I would be starting medical school virtually in the middle of a global pandemic. Although I knew a shutdown was impending, I was naively hopeful that we would begin our return to normal after two short weeks, which at the time felt like an eternity. However, temporary stay-at-home orders soon morphed into months of restrictions, keeping all of us from family, friends, and summer activities.

As of Saturday, November 27th, 79,055 tests were logged. 69,271 of those were Molecular tests (87.6%) and 9,784 were Antigen tests (12.4%). UIUC saliva testing was not reported or included due to the fall break.

7,873 newly confirmed or probable cases were logged, for a daily case positivity rate of 9.96%. This marked 6 of the last 8 days under 10%. Although 10% is double where we want to be, it is still progress and shows that the precautions you take are working.

Recently, there was a lot of interest in our statement that ICU beds would run out by Thanksgiving if nothing happened.  We got your attention, and things started to happen but we are still in trouble. The first thing that happened is the number of non-COVID ICU patients started to decline as the number of ICU COVID patients is going up.  Why?  Well, we are hearing that hospitals are working to preserve ICU capacity given the rising numbers of COVID patients.  Clinicians on the ground are reporting the need to carefully ration who gets an ICU bed given more COVID patients are coming. 

Answer: Space, staff, and stuff… “You need all three, and if you don’t have one, it doesn’t matter if you have the other two.” This quote from Michigan-based emergency physician Dr. Madshid Abir (NPR article link) highlights what it takes to keep a hospital system humming. Unfortunately, shortages across the three S’s have thrown numerous hospital systems into crisis mode. Consider this: In the past 2 weeks, more than 900 Mayo clinic staff in the Midwest have been diagnosed with COVID, resulting in calling retired clinicians back into service, reassigning research nurses to patient care, and reducing “elective” care.

Earlier this weekend on Friday, November 13th, 15,415 newly confirmed or probable cases were logged for the day, with a case positivity rate of 14.47%. This is particularly concerning, given that Illinois is testing over 100,000 people per day. The biggest concern now is EMS region 7, which includes South Cook, Grundy, Kankakee, and Will counties. Between the 11 hospitals throughout these counties, a staggering number of 23 ICU beds remain.

I am an international medical graduate (IMG) who was unable to participate in the residency match this year because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Although a US citizen, I received my MPH in the UK, and chose to stay in the UK for a medical program that had a hands-on approach to teaching. Unfortunately, when Covid-19 hit the US, my last practical exam before being eligible for a US residency – Step 2CS – was cancelled as testing was suspended for 2 months, and then for 12-18 months. 

Beginning November 6th, IDPH began to report lab confirmed cases and probable COVID cases combined. Lab confirmed cases are those that have been confirmed via molecular testing and probable cases are those that meet clinical criteria AND are epidemiologically-linked, or those that have a positive antigen test. This causes some confusion in number reporting, as probable cases looked like an additional 200-350 new cases, or an increase in 0.33%.

Meet IMPACT data analyst Jeff Softcheck! Jeff has been involved in healthcare data, analytics, and administration for nearly 20 years. His mission is to drive better healthcare and performance in his work career. Throughout his work, he commits to using data and clear, honest communication to deliver reliable medical information and gain trust and fellowship. Diagnosed with diabetes at age 10, as well as pulmonary embolisms and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) last February, Jeff heavily empathizes with those living with chronic conditions.

As of Sunday, November 1st, there have been 78,458 COVID tests in the past 24 hours in Illinois. There have been 6,980 new tests for a case positivity rate of 8.90% for the day. At this point, the entire state of IL is in mitigation status, as we have exploded for test positivity in the past two weeks. The ICU bed utilization model that predicted ICU capacity by Thanksgiving has been slightly surpassed. Although deaths are still under what we expected, we’re still averaging 41 deaths per day for the past week. Hospitalizations are p by 90% from four weeks ago.