23 Illinois counties now at “medium” risk for COVID-19; hospitalizations back over 900

There are now 23 counties, plus the city of Chicago, that are at “medium” risk for COVID-19, according to new data from the Illinois Department of Public Health released Friday. Fourteen of those medium-risk counties are in northern Illinois.

The counties under “medium” risk are: Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, La Salle, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Whiteside, Will and Winnebago in northern Illinois; and Sangamon, Champaign, DeWitt, Ford, Logan, Mason, McLean and Peoria in the center of the state; and Johnson in southern Illinois.

At the Medium Community Level, people at risk of severe health outcomes are advised to take additional precautions to protect themselves from the virus, including masking up in indoor spaces.

“While case counts are rising, we would urge the public not to be alarmed, but to be aware of this trend and to take action by making sure they are up-to-date with vaccinations and booster shots,” IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars said in a news release. “In addition, in areas that are rated at a Medium Community Level, people who are elderly or immunocompromised are strongly advised to mask up in indoor places. And if you test positive, you should consult with a healthcare provider about obtaining a prescription for one of the therapeutic treatments that are widely available. The treatments are much more effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths when they are taken early in the course of the illness.”

IDPH reported 8,411 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and six additional deaths Friday.

It’s the most new cases in a single day since Feb. 4.

The state’s seven-day rolling average for new cases per day went up to 5,718, the highest average since Feb. 9.

For Thursday, the state administered 17,675 vaccines.

From the IDPH’s data dashboard:

Case rate per 100,000: 44.9 (+0.8 from Thursday)

Percentage of ICU beds available: 19%

COVID-19 diagnosed hospital admissions (7-day rolling average): 79 (+2 from Thursday, highest rate since Feb. 28)

Weekly deaths reported: 45

Illinois has seen 3,209,341 total cases of the virus, and 33,705 people have died.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 909 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, an overnight increase of 29 patients and the most total people in the hospital with COVID-19 since March 1. Of those, 87 were in intensive care units, and 25 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 26,996,645 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 22,099,637 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 8,257,461 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 64.81% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,753,614 (73.4%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,741,398 (81.7%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,338,901 (76.9%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,274,115 (85.6%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,702,850 (78.2%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,575,987 (87%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,822,988 (89.2%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,989,683 (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: 68.35%

Suburban Cook: 72.50%

Lake: 69.57%

McHenry: 65.38%

DuPage: 75.16%

Kane: 66.10%

Will: 66.34%

Kendall: 68.63%

La Salle: 58.12%

Grundy: 57.40%

DeKalb: 56.34%

Ogle: 56.68%

Lee: 58.71%

Whiteside: 51.64%

Bureau: 56.47%