Rockford COVID-19 hospitalizations fall below 100 for first time in 13 weeks

February 11, 2022|By Kevin Haas|In Local, Rockford, Trending

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus at the city’s three hospitals has fallen for a fifth straight week, according to the Winnebago County Health Department.

There were 91 people being treated for COVID-19 at Mercyhealth, OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center and UW Health SwedishAmerican Hospital as of Thursday evening. That marks the first weekly report since Nov. 11 that there have been fewer than 100 people in Rockford hospitals with COVID.

Related: Pritzker to end Illinois indoor mask mandate on Feb. 28, keep school masks in place

Hospitalizations have been falling statewide, too, prompting Gov. JB Pritzker earlier this week to say the state’s indoor mask mandate could being lifted by the end of the month. Hospitalizations from the virus in Illinois have fallen to 2,380 from the peak of 7,380 on Jan. 12.

Nearly 63% of people in Illinois have been fully vaccinated. That number stands at just below 57% in Winnebago County.

“The best defense we have versus the variants we have today and the variants we may have tomorrow or in the future is getting vaccinated,” Mayor Tom McNamara said Friday. “If you’re in areas that have large crowds of people you’re not familiar with, I’d certainly strongly urge folks to wear a face covering until our numbers get far lower.”

Rockford COVID hospitalizations

The Winnebago County Health Department releases a report each Friday on the total number of hospitalized COVID patients at Rockford’s three hospitals as of the previous Thursday evening.

Feb. 10: 91

Feb. 3: 107

Jan. 27: 162

Jan. 20: 169

Jan. 13: 214

Jan. 10*: 219

Dec. 30: 180

Dec. 23: 188

Dec. 16: 188

Dec. 9: 165

Dec. 2: 167

Nov. 25: 129