Here’s where each health region in northern Illinois stands as of Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,295 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 25 additional deaths on Wednesday.

The state received the results of 50,299 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Wednesday afternoon – the first time the state has reached 50,000 tests or more in a single day. The seven-day rolling average of Illinois’ positivity rate increased for the fourth straight day to 4.4%.

Illinois now has seen 211,889 total cases of the virus and 7,806 people have died. A total of 3,489,571 tests have been conducted since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Tuesday night, Illinois had 1,519 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 334 were in the ICU and 144 were on ventilators.

"I'm concerned that we've grown numb of these numbers, and we need to remember they're not just numbers. These are people," IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said at a news conference Wednesday. "They were so sick they were hospitalized in the intensive care unit and unfortunately, succumbed."

Regional update: According to a July 15 update to the governor's COVID-19 response plan, the state will be tracking public health metrics in a slightly different way to monitor any potential resurgences of COVID-19. Additional restrictions can be placed on any of the state's 11 health regions if the region sustains an increase in its average positivity rate for seven days out of a ten day period.

A region may also become more restrictive if there is a seven-day increase in hospital admissions for COVID-19-related illness or a reduction in hospital medical/surgical beds or ICU capacity below 20%. If a region reports three consecutive days with greater than an 8% average positivity rate, additional infection mitigation will be considered through a tiered system of restriction guidelines offered by the IDPH.

The North Suburban region (McHenry and Lake counties) has seen four days of positivity increases and only one day of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate decreased for the second consecutive day to 5.6%. Currently, 42% of medical/surgical beds are available and 57% of ICU beds.

The West Suburban region (DuPage and Kane counties) has seen four days of positivity increases and one day of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate increased to 5.1%. This is the first time this region has crossed above the 5% positive mark since it was broken out into its own region. Currently, 34% of medical/surgical beds are available and 45% of ICU beds.

The South Suburban region (Will and Kankakee counties) has seen five days of positivity increases and five days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased significantly to 7.2%. This is the first time this region has crossed above the 7% positive mark since it was broken out into its own region. Currently, 32% of medical/surgical beds are available and 35% of ICU beds.

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) has seen two days of positivity increase and one day of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased to 3.8%. Currently, 44% of medical/surgical beds are available and 54% of ICU beds.

The North-Central region (Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren and Woodford counties) has seen six days of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate decreased to 5.5%. Currently, 43% of medical/surgical beds are available and 46% of ICU beds.

Chicago has seen three days of positivity increases and three days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased slightly to 5.1%. Currently, 29% of medical/surgical beds are available and 43% of ICU beds.

Suburban Cook County has seen four days of positivity increases and three days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased to 6.4%. Currently, 31% of medical/surgical beds are available and 37% of ICU beds.

The Metro East region, which includes East St. Louis and is the only region under enhanced restrictions, saw its positivity rate climb again to 9.5%. It has less than two weeks to get down to 6.5% positive, or it will face further restrictions.

Gov. JB Prtizker said the Metro East region would continue to be monitored “closely over the next 2 weeks, and if the positivity rate remains at or above 8%, Region 4 may be subject to additional mitigations, such as the full closure of indoor bars and dining,” he said.

"The truth is we are better than most states, but that's true today," Ezike said. "But we are going in the wrong direction. The country as a whole for 4 weeks in a row, the positivity rate has declined. For 4 weeks in a row for Illinois, the positivity rate has increased."

Newly reported deaths include:

• Cook County: 1 male 20s, 1 female 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 3 males 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s

• DeKalb County: 1 female 80s

• Jefferson County: 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s

• Knox County: 1 female 80s

• La Salle County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s

• Madison County: 1 female 80s

• Morgan County: 1 male 70s, 2 females 80s

• St. Clair County: 1 male 30s, 1 male 70s

• Wabash County: 1 female 60s

• Will County: 1 male 60s