81 Illinois counties at high or medium risk for COVID-19, IDPH says

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday there are 28 counties in the state that are considered high risk for COVID-19, up from 20 the previous week. There are also 53 counties at medium risk, up from 47 a week ago.

The northern Illinois counties listed at High Community Level are Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, Winnebago and Stephenson. The northern Illinois counties listed at Medium Community Level are McHenry, DeKalb, Kendall, Grundy, Ogle, Lee, Whiteside, Carroll and Boone counties.

Kane, La Salle, Bureau and Putnam counties are all in the Low Community Level category.

“As we celebrate the Fourth of July this weekend, everyone should be aware that 81 counties in Illinois are rated at Medium or High Community Level for COVID-19,” IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars said in a news release. “This means that people who are vulnerable to serious medical outcomes are at higher risk. We remind holiday hosts to think of the safety of friends and family. You should hold events outdoors if possible, and in well-ventilated spaces if indoors. 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, high-quality mask in public indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status, in High Community Level counties, along with being 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 4,562 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 12 additional deaths Friday.

For Thursday, the state administered 13,304 vaccines.

From the IDPH’s data dashboard:

Case rate per 100,000: 31.6 (-0.8 from Thursday)

Percentage of ICU beds available: 20%

COVID-19 diagnosed hospital admissions (7-day rolling average): 108 (-2 from Thursday)

Weekly deaths reported: 74

Illinois has seen 3,435,405 total cases of the virus, and 34,150 people have died.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,170 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, a decrease of 16 patients from Wednesday. Of those, 122 were in intensive care units, and 44 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 28,146,145 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 22,677,349 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 8,301,381 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 65.15% 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: 68.86%

Suburban Cook: 72.67%

Lake: 70.17%

McHenry: 65.74%

DuPage: 75.43%

Kane: 66.34%

Will: 66.65%

Kendall: 69.04%

La Salle: 58.33%

Grundy: 57.70%

DeKalb: 56.58%

Ogle: 56.96%

Lee: 58.91%

Whiteside: 51.84%

Bureau: 56.78%