DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - While central Illinois has seen cases of COVID-19 slowly drop over the last week, there are still very few ICU beds available.

Chief Medical Officer for St. Mary's Ryan Jennings said this is because of the cases are more severe in ICU patients.

"Right now, because of the long stays that many patients with COVID-19 have, we've not seen the bed availability move yet much yet and that number is gonna lag by a couple of weeks probably to really start to see bed availability," Jennings said. 

Currently, IDPH reports Region 3 only has eight ICU beds left, with Region 6 having 19 open.

Although only few beds are available, Jennings said to still go to the hospital if you need to.

"Do not delay care that's the most important thing," he said. "We have great partnerships all across the state to make sure that people that require intensive care and emergency care will make sure that care is delivered to them, so above all else, don't delay care. The best way to avoid that severity of illness and end up in the hospital or especially the intensive care unit is still vaccination."

Experts believe the peak of this surge has already passed, but said it will be weeks before these beds open back up.

"Everyone's feeling the same thing: cautious optimism that the total number of cases is going down but the beds just aren't quite freed up yet," Jennings said.Â