An internal medicine specialist who takes care of COVID patients with Southern Illinois Healthcare says the hospitalization rate is increasing along with the number of cases in the region.
Dr. Craig Davis says COVID-related admissions to Memorial Hospital in Carbondale and Herrin Hospital now stand at 28...the highest number since the pandemic began.
"What remains most alarming to me, as a physician and father, is the complacency I see in some of our community members and the polarization over simple prevention methods, especially surrounding masks and social distancing."
Davis emphasizes the enemy during the pandemic is the virus, not each other.
He says there have been a considerable number of patients with COVID-19 originating from long-term care facilities in the region, but he says the vast majority of patients are community members.
Jackson County Public Health Department Administrator Bart Hagston says just like across Region Five, test positivity rates in Jackson County are also rising dramatically.
"On October 8, Jackson County's rolling test positivity rate was 3.7%. Just one week later, that rolling positivity rate was up to 5.7%. So, we increased two percentage points on that seven-day rolling positivity rate in just one week."
Hagston says one protective measure to protect your health and that of others is to get a flu shot. He says the Jackson County Health Department is seeing record demand for flu shots this fall.