Illinois under 1,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations for first time since mid-October

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced that zero counties are considered at “high” risk for COVID-19, down from three a week ago. An additional 20 counties are at “medium” risk, down from 25 last week.

“It is good news that COVID-19 community levels are continuing to decline in Illinois, with no counties listed at high level,” IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a news release. “We are seeing a gradual increase in the rate of the XBB.1.5 ‘Kraken’ variant in the Midwest and Illinois compared to last week. At this moment, it is not leading to an increase in hospitalizations. Concerns remain about this variant, but new data released by the CDC shows that the updated bivalent COVID-19 booster is protective against it – reducing the risk of symptoms by nearly half. We ask Illinoisians to remain vigilant and use readily available tools like vaccines and antiviral treatments to avoid hospitalizations and protect the most vulnerable.”

The IDPH announced Friday 10,924 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 86 additional deaths over the past week.

As of late Thursday, 999 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19, the first time the state has been under 1,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations since October 18. Of those, 117 patients were in the ICU and 45 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 5,349 doses, including the bivalent booster and first doses. Since January 20, 37,440 vaccine doses were reported administered in Illinois.

Weekly case rate per 100,000: 85.7

Percentage of ICU beds available: 20%

COVID-19-diagnosed hospital admissions (seven-day rolling average): 90 (down 15 from a week ago)

Weekly deaths reported: 86 (up eight from the previous week)

Illinois has seen 4,019,768 total cases of the virus, and 36,091 people have died.

Vaccine update: As of Friday, the IDPH reported a total of 26,417,515 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 25,912,844 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 8,428,357 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 66.15% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,957,616 (75.1%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,912,303 (83.1%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,850,320 (79.7%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,685,050 (88.1%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,862,087 (91.1%)

At Least 1 Dose: 2,011,536 (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: 69.44%

Suburban Cook: 73.74%

Lake: 71.65%

McHenry: 66.81%

DuPage: 76.49%

Kane: 67.19%

Will: 67.56%

Kendall: 70.82%

La Salle: 58.91%

Grundy: 58.41%

DeKalb: 57.02%

Ogle: 57.44%

Lee: 59.09%

Whiteside: 52.09%

Bureau: 57.12%