IDPH: 58 Illinois counties at ‘high’ risk for COVID-19

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday that there are 58 counties in the state at “high” risk for COVID-19, an increase of eight from the previous week and an increase of 30 from two weeks ago. An additional 36 counties are at “medium” risk, a decrease of eight from the previous week.

The northern Illinois counties listed at high community level are Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, Lee, McHenry, Stephenson, Whiteside, Will and Winnebago.

“The data tells us that COVID-19 is still with us and still spreading,” IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars said in a news release. “The most important thing you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones from the virus is to be up-to-date on vaccines and booster shots. If you have been waiting to get a vaccine, booster or a second booster, please don’t wait any longer. Get up-to-date.

“Safe and effective vaccines are widely available at no cost for everyone in Illinois who is at least 6 months old. This is especially important for people who are vulnerable to serious medical outcomes.

“We also recommend that you wear your mask in indoor public places and avoid indoor crowded spaces at this time. If needed, contact a health care provider promptly to discuss what treatment is right for you.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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, people who are elderly or immunocompromised (at risk of severe outcomes) are advised to wear a mask in indoor public places.

The IDPH also announced 5,276 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and seven additional deaths Friday.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,453 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 145 were in intensive care units and 46 were on ventilators.

For Thursday, the state administered 15,179 vaccines.

From the IDPH’s data dashboard:

Case rate per 100,000: 36.2 (up 0.8 from Thursday)

Percentage of ICU beds available: 20%

COVID-19-diagnosed hospital admissions (seven-day rolling average): 146 (up one from Thursday)

Weekly deaths reported: 52 (down seven from the previous week)

Illinois has seen 3,528,282 total cases of the virus, and 34,309 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 the CDC to report COVID-19 hospital admissions data.

Vaccine update: As of Friday, the IDPH reported a total of 28,597,445 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 22,896,870 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 8,317,772 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 65.28% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully vaccinated: 8,763,057 (73.5%)

At least one dose: 9,680,708 (81.2%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully vaccinated: 8,338,269 (76.9%)

At least one dose: 9,202,046 (84.9%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully vaccinated: 7,695,168 (78.1%)

At least one dose: 8,497,846 (86.2%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully vaccinated: 1,826,116 (89.4%)

At least one dose: 1,973,997 (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: 68.99%

Suburban Cook: 72.81%

Lake: 70.36%

McHenry: 65.86%

DuPage: 75.57%

Kane: 66.45%

Will: 66.78%

Kendall: 69.19%

La Salle: 58.41%

Grundy: 57.78%

DeKalb: 56.67%

Ogle: 57.03%

Lee: 58.97%

Whiteside: 51.92%

Bureau: 56.80%