IDPH: 25 Illinois counties at high risk for COVID-19, down seven from previous week

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday there at 25 counties in the state that are considered high risk for COVID-19, down from 32 the previous week. There are also 39 counties at medium risk, which is the same number as the previous week.

The northern Illinois counties listed at High Community Level are Boone, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Kankakee, Kendall, Lee, Ogle, Will and Winnebago.

The latest data from the CDC shows that several counties were downgraded from High Community Level to Medium, including Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry and Lake counties.

Following a 10 percent uptick in cases after the Memorial Day Weekend, IDPH is urging Illinoisans to exercise caution and common sense when it comes to attending family gatherings over the coming Father’s Day and Juneteenth weekend.

“With 64 counties at the Medium or High Community Level across Illinois in the wake of Memorial Day, this should serve as a warning to all of us as we are making plans to celebrate Father’s Day and Juneteenth this coming weekend,” IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars said in a news release. “We urge everyone to keep the safety of their loved ones in mind, especially older family members and those who are vulnerable to severe outcomes. If you are attending a family gathering, you should be up-to-date and boosted on your vaccinations. If you are feeling any symptoms, you should take a COVID-19 test or stay home. In areas with elevated community levels, you should 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 CDC 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 announced 3,499 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 15 additional deaths Friday.

For Thursday, the state administered 11,716 vaccines.

From the IDPH’s data dashboard:

Case rate per 100,000: 30.4 (-3.0 from Thursday)

Percentage of ICU beds available: 18%

COVID-19 diagnosed hospital admissions (7-day rolling average): 106 (+3 from Thursday)

Weekly deaths reported: 68

Illinois has seen 3,380,095 total cases of the virus, and 33,994 people have died.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,162 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, a decrease of 26 patients from Wednesday. Of those, 131 were in intensive care units, and 33 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 27,874,145 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 22,543,715 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 8,291,069 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 65.07% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,745,866 (73.3%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,670,484 (81.1%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,324,560 (76.8%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,197,586 (84.9%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,684,569 (78%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,496,687 (86.2%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,823,339 (89.2%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,974,265 (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: 68.77%

Suburban Cook: 72.58%

Lake: 70.05%

McHenry: 65.67%

DuPage: 75.35%

Kane: 66.27%

Will: 66.57%

Kendall: 68.94%

La Salle: 58.27%

Grundy: 57.62%

DeKalb: 56.53%

Ogle: 56.89%

Lee: 58.90%

Whiteside: 51.82%

Bureau: 56.75%