Prairie State Wire

Illinois' top public health agency says it won't release the data behind Gov. J.B. Pritzker's claims that hospitals in southern and east central Illinois have been "overwhelmed" with COVID cases.

In a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from Prairie State Wire, the Illinois Department of Public Health said it will only provide regional and statewide aggregated hospital utilization data. 

IDPH lawyer Nicole Rhim wrote on Sept. 13 that she believes the department isn't required by law to provide hospital-level numbers.

"We are unable to provide (the data) on a hospital-by-hospital basis," she wrote.

At an Aug. 26 press conference, Pritzker claimed that because of a surge in "delta variant" cases, only 3%  of ICU beds were available at hospitals in certain regions of the state. IDPH data showed that 17% of ICU beds were open statewide and that 84% of beds in use were for non-COVID patients.

According to IDPH's aggregate statewide data, the average Illinois hospital has 2.3 patients in ICU, slightly lower than its 17 month average of 2.4.

Without providing specifics, Pritzker claimed hospitals in southern and east central Illinois were "overwhelmed."

“Hospital staff are becoming overwhelmed and overburdened,” Pritzker said. 

Last month, Pritzker also said increased hospitalizations for the so-called COVID-19 "Delta Variant" drove him to make face masks mandatory in K-12 schools.

The city of Chicago is demanding all city residents who haven't taken a COVID-19 jab and who travel to any state except Vermont quarantine themselves in their homes for at least a full week upon returning. That's even if they have tested negative for Covid-19.

Of the 2,242 COVID-19 patients in hospitals on Aug. 31, IDPH reported that 23%-- of 512-- were in ICUs.

Illinois hospitals' high number of reported ICU COVID-19 patients over the past 17 months was 1,290 on April 28, 2020, or 5.7 per hospital. The low number of patients was 76 on July 7, 2021, or 0.3 per hospital.