IDPH: Illinois back to 0 counties at ‘high’ COVID-19 risk; 31 at ‘medium’ risk

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced 31 counties are at the “medium” risk level for COVID-19, down from 33 a week ago, and zero counties are at the “high” risk level, down from five a week ago.

In counties 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. They also should get up to date on COVID-19 vaccines or get their bivalent booster, if eligible.

The IDPH announced 2,465 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 16 additional deaths for Thursday.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,081 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 136 were in intensive care units, and 48 were on ventilators.

For Thursday, the state administered 27,615 vaccines.

IDPH also announced it will be distributing 1 million over-the-counter COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to residents in economically disadvantaged zip codes outside Chicago through a partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation’s public charity, RF Catalytic Capital and its Project ACT (Access COVID Tests) program.

“COVID-19 tests remain a critical tool that can help limit the spread of the virus,” IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a news release. “A positive test early in the course of your illness allows you to protect yourself by providing an opportunity to seek treatment earlier, likely reducing severe disease. A positive test also allows you to protect your loved ones and community by knowing when to stay home and not spread the disease to others. We are grateful to the Rockefeller Foundation for partnering with us to make it possible for thousands of families in Illinois to have free access to at-home tests.”

Case rate per 100,000: 15.9 (down 1.2 from Thursday)

Percentage of ICU beds available: 17%

COVID-19-diagnosed hospital admissions (seven-day rolling average): 102 (down 2 from Thursday)

Weekly deaths reported: 54 (down 13 from last Friday’s update)

Illinois has seen 3,823,905 total cases of the virus, and 35,289 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.

Vaccine update: As of Friday, the IDPH reported a total of 30,270,770 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 24,856,184 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 8,394,110 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 65.88% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,907,272 (74.7%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,854,326 (82.6%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,463,510 (78.1%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,353,236 (86.3%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,809,884 (79.3%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,637,409 (87.7%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,855,616 (90.8%)

At Least 1 Dose: 2,006,380 (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: 69.42%

Suburban Cook: 73.54%

Lake: 71.32%

McHenry: 66.55%

DuPage: 76.25%

Kane: 67.07%

Will: 67.38%

Kendall: 70.37%

La Salle: 58.85%

Grundy: 58.24%

DeKalb: 56.93%

Ogle: 57.36%

Lee: 59.28%

Whiteside: 52.18%

Bureau: 57.19%