IDPH: Number of Illinois counties at “high” COVID-19 risk continues to decline

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday there are 20 counties in the state that are considered high risk for COVID-19, down from 25 the previous week. There are also 47 counties at medium risk, up from 39 a week ago.

The northern Illinois counties listed at High Community Level are Cook, DuPage and Lake.

“With 67 counties at the Medium or High Community Level across Illinois, more than half of the counties in the state remain at an elevated level for community risk,” IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars said in a news release. “Everyone should be aware that they can play a part in limiting the spread of the virus. We should all make sure we are up-to-date on vaccinations and boosters. Parents of small children should take advantage of the newly authorized vaccines for children as young as 6 months. In areas with elevated community levels, we are all wise to put on our masks in indoor public spaces and avoid indoor crowded spaces as much as possible. 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 5,568 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 22 additional deaths Friday.

For Thursday, the state administered 11,080 vaccines.

From the IDPH’s data dashboard:

Case rate per 100,000: 30.4 28.1 (+2.3 from Thursday)

Percentage of ICU beds available: 20%

COVID-19 diagnosed hospital admissions (7-day rolling average): 101 (Same as Thursday)

Weekly deaths reported: 82

Illinois has seen 3,407,189 total cases of the virus, and 34,076 people have died.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,099 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, a decrease of 30 patients from Wednesday. Of those, 114 were in intensive care units, and 32 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, IDPH reported a total of 27,995,945 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 22,604,803 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 8,296,993 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 65.12% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,742,160 (73.3%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,659,676 (81%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,320,644 (76.8%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,186,637 (84.8%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,680,596 (77.9%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,485,774 (86.1%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,822,462 (89.2%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,972,992 (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: 68.83%

Suburban Cook: 72.63%

Lake: 70.11%

McHenry: 65.70%

DuPage: 75.40%

Kane: 66.31%

Will: 66.62%

Kendall: 68.97%

La Salle: 58.31%

Grundy: 57.66%

DeKalb: 56.55%

Ogle: 56.94%

Lee: 58.93%

Whiteside: 51.85%

Bureau: 56.78%