IDPH: 33 counties at ‘high’ COVID-19 level; 55 at ‘medium’ level

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday that 33 counties are considered a “high” risk for COVID-19, down from 43 a week ago. An additional 55 counties are at “medium” risk, up from 43 last week.

IDPH also announced Friday that as of the end this year, it will follow the lead of the CDC and shift from daily reporting of new COVID-19 cases and deaths to a weekly cadence for reporting that data. Daily case and death data will no longer be reported as of Jan. 1, 2023. Following that date, IDPH will report weekly data on Wednesday of each week for the previous week ending Sunday. IDPH will continue to report ICU bed availability and hospital admission data on a daily basis.

“Illinois continues to see most of its communities at elevated risk levels for COVID-19, including 33 counties that are currently at high risk,” IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said. “Although we are seeing some improvement in the number of high risk communities compared to last week, I encourage Illinoisians to continue to use preventative measures as we enter the holiday weekend and enjoy our holiday gatherings. We are still seeing COVID-19 community levels, along with flu and other respiratory illnesses rise in many counties. Our goal is to limit hospitalizations, preserve hospital beds, and protect those most vulnerable to serious health outcomes, especially those over 65 and very young children.”

The CDC recommends the following measures for people in areas that are rated at High Community Level for COVID-19 transmission:

• Wear a well-fitting mask indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status (including in K-12 schools and other indoor community settings)

• If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for severe disease consider self-testing to detect infection before contact consider wearing a mask when indoors with them

• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters

• Maintain improved ventilation throughout indoor spaces when possible

The IDPH announced Friday 3,785 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 16 additional deaths.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,814 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 184 were in intensive care units, and 117 were on ventilators.

For Thursday, the state administered 11,724 vaccines.

Case rate per 100,000: 26.7 (up 1.4 from Thursday)

Percentage of ICU beds available: 19%

COVID-19-diagnosed hospital admissions (seven-day rolling average): 168 (down 9 from Thursday)

Weekly deaths reported: 82 (same as last week)

Illinois has seen 3,953,928 total cases of the virus, and 35,714 people have died.

County-by-county update: As of mid-April, the IDPH will provide a county-by-county update focusing on the case rate per 100,000 people, the percentage of ICU beds available, a rolling seven-day average of COVID-19-diagnosed hospital admissions and weekly deaths.

The definition of a COVID-19-diagnosed hospital admission is as follows: the seven-day average of daily number of hospital admissions given a diagnosis of COVID-19 as measured using the Illinois Syndromic Surveillance System.

Illinois collects all emergency department and inpatient visits through syndromic surveillance from all acute care hospitals in Illinois in near-real time. Data is presented with a three-day lag to allow time for diagnosis to be reported.

Vaccine update: As of Friday, the IDPH reported a total of 26,342,355 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 25,674,890 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 8,412,588 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 66.03% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people. The IDPH also announced Friday that more than 2 million people in the state have received a bivalent booster.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,945,414 (75%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,900,301 (83%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,839,805 (79.6%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,674,451 (88%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,860,860 (91.1%)

At Least 1 Dose: 2,011,084 (95%)

There can be as much as a 72-hour delay in reporting from health care providers on vaccines administered.

In northern Illinois, here is the percentage of the population fully vaccinated by county:

Chicago: 69.33%

Suburban Cook: 73.60%

Lake: 71.52%

McHenry: 66.72%

DuPage: 76.36%

Kane: 67.11%

Will: 67.46%

Kendall: 70.68%

La Salle: 58.90%

Grundy: 58.32%

DeKalb: 56.97%

Ogle: 57.40%

Lee: 59.07%

Whiteside: 52.06%

Bureau: 57.12%