Illinois (ECWd) –
While the most recent variant of COVID-19 captures the news, we must once again drill down on facts rather than the hype that appears to be the primary narrative from the mainstream media.
Who knew Omicron variant only accounts for a very minor fraction of the COVID-19 cases in Illinois? As of yesterday, January 3rd, 2022, IDPH reported a whopping total Omicron variant at 765 cases, which is 123 more than the total listed for December 31, 2021. Considering IDPH reports 20,886 COVID cases for a single day, January 3, 2021, it’s clear the new variant has yet to become the dominant strain.
Looking at hospitalization, we find the narrative from the government and the news media is not quite as they would have us believe.
We wonder why IDPH reports 1,086 COVID-19 Patients occupying 2,977 Staffed ICU Beds but does not include how many ICU patients do not have COVID-19 in that sentence? Found below in a graph on the IDPH website, is the fact there are 1575 ICU beds being used by non-COVID-19 patients, meaning COVID-19 patients are not the ones overwhelming ICU beds.
The same can be found in the reporting for ventilator use. Why does IDPH publish COVID-19 figures for ventilators in one sentence and not point out that over twice that number of ventilators are being used on NON-COVID-19 patients: “652 COVID-19 Patients on ventilators of 5,470 staffed ventilators”. The graph at the bottom of the page reflects 1,233 NON-COVID-19 patients on a ventilator. Thus, again, COVID-19 patients are not overwhelming ventilator use.
While the media narrative has pushed towards hospital beds being a concern, what does the actual data say as of January 3, 2022?
- State Wide Hospital Beds Open – 6,453,
- State Wide Hospital Beds used for NON-COVID-19 Patients – 18,729
- State Wide Hospital Beds used for COVID-19 Patients – 6,294
Looking at the actual numbers, current COVID-19 figures would have to double before it would fill the current open beds, which by all indications is not going to happen. As it stands, Non-ICU COVID-19 patients account for about 1/3 of current hospitalizations. Thus, COVID-19 patients are not overwhelming our hospital bed availability.
We wonder with these facts if it has a direct connection to the concerns raised and published in this article?
Time will tell.
