IDPH: 32 Illinois counties now at high risk for COVID-19; plus 39 more at medium risk

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday that 32 Illinois counties are now considered “high” risk for COVID-19. In northern Illinois, those counties include: Cook, Lake, McHenry, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, DeKalb, Ogle and Lee counties.

At medium risk, those counties in northern Illinois include: Will, Grundy, La Salle and Whiteside counties.

“In the days since the Memorial Day weekend we have seen a ten percent increase in COVID-19 across Illinois, reversing the downward trend of the previous two weeks,” IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars said in a news release. “This uptick is a cause for concern – and serves as a reminder to all of us, especially as we are approaching the coming Father’s Day and Juneteenth weekend, that we can all do our part to fight the virus and protect our friends and family who are vulnerable to severe outcomes by taking some simple actions. The most effective way to prevent severe illness is for all to be up-to date with vaccinations and boosters. This is especially important for elders and persons who are immunocompromised or have complex medical conditions. Wear your mask in indoor public places and avoid indoor crowded spaces. If needed, contact a healthcare provider promptly to discuss what treatment is right for you.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing a well-fitting mask in indoor public spaces, regardless of vaccination status, and staying up to date on vaccinations and boosters.

At the Medium community level, persons who are elderly or immunocompromised (at risk of severe outcomes) are advised to wear a mask in indoor public places.

IDPH reported 6,147 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 12 additional deaths Friday.

For Thursday, the state administered 14,180 vaccines.

From the IDPH’s data dashboard:

Case rate per 100,000: 38.1 (+0.4 from Thursday)

Percentage of ICU beds available: 20%

COVID-19 diagnosed hospital admissions (7-day rolling average): 107 (-8 from Thursday)

Weekly deaths reported: 73

Illinois has seen 3,352,983 total cases of the virus, and 33,926 people have died.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,189 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, an increase of nine patients from Wednesday. Of those, 124 were in intensive care units, and 27 were on ventilators.

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.

At the county level, a visit is counted by where the patient resides. A patient with multiple visits will be counted for each visit. Admissions may not be because of COVID-19 as the primary cause. Syndromic surveillance data is not the same source used by CDC to report COVID-19 hospital admissions data.

Vaccine update: As of Friday, the IDPH reported a total of 27,716,345 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 22,485,224 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 8,286,123 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 65.03% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,735,373 (73.3%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,660,579 (81%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,316,049 (76.7%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,189,374 (84.8%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,677,694 (77.9%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,490,008 (86.2%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,821,052 (89.1%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,972,315 (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: 68.74%

Suburban Cook: 72.53%

Lake: 69.99%

McHenry: 65.63%

DuPage: 75.32%

Kane: 66.23%

Will: 66.52%

Kendall: 68.86%

La Salle: 58.27%

Grundy: 57.60%

DeKalb: 56.50%

Ogle: 56.87%

Lee: 58.88%

Whiteside: 51.82%

Bureau: 56.76%