IDPH: 28 counties at high risk for COVID-19; 43 at medium risk

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday there are 28 counties in the state that are considered high risk for COVID-19, the same number as the previous week, though the counties have changed. There are also 43 counties at medium risk, down from 53 a week ago.

The northern Illinois counties listed at High Community Level are DuPage and Lake. The northern Illinois counties listed at Medium Community Level are Cook, McHenry, Will, Kendall, Ogle and Lee.

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

“With 71 counties in Illinois rated at Medium or High Community Level for COVID-19 by the CDC, the majority of counties remain at elevated risk” IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars said in a news release. “We urge everyone to protect themselves by making sure they are up-to-date with vaccines and booster shots. This is especially important for people who are vulnerable to serious medical outcomes. 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.

Illinois has more COVID-19 patients in the hospital than at any point since Feb. 21, according to new data from IDPH.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,309 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, an increase of 18 patients from Wednesday and the most since Feb. 21. Of those, 149 were in intensive care units, the most since March 3, and 47 were on ventilators.

The increasing hospitalizations come as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest data show the BA.5 variant – a highly transmissible variant in the omicron lineage of variants – now is the dominant COVID-19 variant in the country as well as the region that includes Illinois.

IDPH announced 5,403 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 15 additional deaths Friday.

For Thursday, the state administered 11,199 vaccines.

From the IDPH’s data dashboard:

Case rate per 100,000: 30.9 (+1.0 from Thursday)

Percentage of ICU beds available: 20%

COVID-19 diagnosed hospital admissions (7-day rolling average): 119 (+5 from Thursday)

Weekly deaths reported: 48

Illinois has seen 3,462,948 total cases of the virus, and 34,198 people have died.

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 28,238,545 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 22,731,250 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 8,306,422 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 65.19% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,747,860 (73.4%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,662,195 (81%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,325,240 (76.8%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,188,415 (84.8%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,683,827 (78%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,486,122 (86.1%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,823,991 (89.3%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,972,591 (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: 68.90%

Suburban Cook: 72.71%

Lake: 70.22%

McHenry: 65.77%

DuPage: 75.47%

Kane: 66.37%

Will: 66.69%

Kendall: 69.07%

La Salle: 58.35%

Grundy: 57.71%

DeKalb: 56.61%

Ogle: 56.99%

Lee: 58.93%

Whiteside: 51.86%

Bureau: 56.81%