March 28, 2024
Coronavirus

Illinois’ COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to increase as BA.2.12.1 variant takes foothold

State now up to 108 COVID-19 hospitalizations per day

FILE - A sign advising visitors to don face coverings stands outside the main entrance to UCHealth University of Colorado hospital Friday, April 1, 2022, in Aurora, Colo.  COVID cases are starting to rise again in the United States, with numbers up in most states and up steeply in several. One expert says he expects more of a “bump” than the monstrous surge of the first omicron wave, but another says it’s unclear how high the curve will rise and it may be more like a hill.  (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 6,399 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and eight additional deaths Thursday.

The latest IDPH data shows the BA.2.12.1 version of the omicron variant is now up to 42.8% of COVID-19 cases in the state as of May 28, up from 32.3% the week prior. BA.2 is down to 56.6% of known COVID-19 cases in the state.

For Wednesday, the state administered 22,041 vaccines.

From the IDPH’s data dashboard:

Case rate per 100,000: 36.4 (+0.1 from Wednesday)

Percentage of ICU beds available: 20%

COVID-19 diagnosed hospital admissions (7-day rolling average): 108 (+4 from Wednesday)

Weekly deaths reported: 45

Illinois has seen 3,313,162 total cases of the virus, and 33,844 people have died.

As of late Wednesday, Illinois had 1,267 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, an overnight increase of six patients and the highest total since February 21. Of those, 118 were in intensive care units, and 33 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.

CountyCase Rate/100,000% available ICU bedsCOVID-19 diagnosed hospital admissions
(7-day rolling average)
Weekly
deaths
Bureau17.81900
Chicago34.919188
DeKalb37.71110
DuPage40.53083
Grundy28.91910
Kane32.33034
Kendall43.91910
Lake44.12073
La Salle32.91900
Lee53.41100
McHenry312040
Ogle34.81100
Suburban
Cook
40163011
Whiteside21.81100
Will371262

Vaccine update: As of Thursday, the IDPH reported a total of 27,517,645 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 22,388,276 vaccines administered.

As of Thursday, 8,277,662 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 64.97% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,758,217 (73.4%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,693,281 (81.3%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,340,047 (77%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,222,532 (85.1%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,702,059 (78.2%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,522,787 (86.5%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,823,532 (89.2%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,977,502 (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: 68.66%

Suburban Cook: 72.45%

Lake: 69.90%

McHenry: 65.57%

DuPage: 75.26%

Kane: 66.18%

Will: 66.47%

Kendall: 68.79%

La Salle: 58.22%

Grundy: 57.56%

DeKalb: 56.45%

Ogle: 56.81%

Lee: 58.83%

Whiteside: 51.78%

Bureau: 56.72%

John Sahly

John Sahly

John Sahly is the digital editor for the Shaw Local News Network. He has been with Shaw Media since 2008, previously serving as the Northwest Herald's digital editor, and the Daily Chronicle sports editor and sports reporter.