IDPH: 28 counties at ‘high’ COVID-19 risk, up from 5 last week

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday that 28 counties are considered at “high” risk for COVID-19, up from just five a week ago. An additional 45 counties are at “medium” risk, down from 49 last week.

In northern Illinois, there are no counties at “high” risk. The only counties at “low” risk are: Boone, Winnebago, Whiteside, Carroll, Bureau and Putnam counties.

“As we enter the new year, IDPH continues to closely monitor levels of COVID-19, the flu, and other respiratory illness in communities throughout Illinois,” IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a news release. “After the holidays, we are once again experiencing a rise in counties at elevated COVID-19 community levels, with 28 currently at High Level. As we monitor emerging variants, including a new more transmissible strain spreading in the northeastern U.S., I continue to recommend our residents take steps to prevent the spread of infection, protect those most vulnerable to serious illness, and preserve our hospital capacity. It is not too late to get your COVID-19 bivalent booster or yearly flu shot. And if you are sick, please stay home if you are able and reach out to your provider about treatments for COVID-19 and the flu.”

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 16,281 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 20 additional deaths over the past week. IDPH previously announced that as of the end of 2022, it would be following the lead of the CDC and shifting from daily reporting of new COVID-19 cases and deaths to a weekly reporting cadence.

As of late Thursday, 1,766 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 233 patients were in the ICU and 77 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 7,838 doses, including the bivalent booster and first doses. Of the state’s eligible population, more than 18% have received the bivalent booster dose.

Weekly case rate per 100,000: 127.8

Percentage of ICU beds available: 15%

COVID-19-diagnosed hospital admissions (seven-day rolling average): 166 (down 2 from Thursday)

Weekly deaths reported: 20 (down 27 from the previous week)

Illinois has seen 3,981,275 total cases of the virus, and 35,814 people have died.

County-by-county update: IDPH provides a county-by-county update focusing on the weekly 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 26,364,595 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 25,781,758 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 8,418,860 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 66.08% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,948,343 (75%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,902,244 (83%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,842,790 (79.6%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,676,710 (88.1%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,861,704 (91.1%)

At Least 1 Dose: 2,011,715 (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: 69.39%

Suburban Cook: 73.66%

Lake: 71.57%

McHenry: 66.75%

DuPage: 76.42%

Kane: 67.14%

Will: 67.51%

Kendall: 70.70%

La Salle: 58.91%

Grundy: 58.36%

DeKalb: 56.99%

Ogle: 57.42%

Lee: 59.08%

Whiteside: 52.08%

Bureau: 57.13%