(WAND) - The wide majority of ICU bed availability in Illinois is in the northeast part of the state, Illinois Department of Public Health data shows.
According to IDPH, over 81 percent of open Illinois ICU beds are in the northeast regions, meaning beds may be hard to find in central Illinois when they are needed. There were over 500 beds open across Illinois in the latest IDPH website update on Wednesday night.
Region 3, which covers the western half of central Illinois, had 83 percent of ICU beds in use (26 open out of 154) Wednesday. Region 6, which covers the eastern half of central Illinois, had 85 percent of ICU beds occupied (22 open out of 143).
Region 5, which is the most southern region in the state, continued to have its ICU beds completely filled Wednesday. Region 1, which includes the furthest northwest and north central parts of Illinois, wasn't far behind with 90 percent filled and only 18 beds out of 175 available.
Health and government officials continue urging the public to get vaccinated. On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said the pandemic will not end until the unvaccinated "accept their responsibility" and decide to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
As WAND News recently reported, local hospital systems are seeing the wide majority of hospitalizations involve unvaccinated people. In addition, the CDC found unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19.
Click here to see the latest hospitalization data from IDPH.
