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Chicago moves to 'high' COVID-19 risk
The CDC says 15 Illinois counties are now rated at ‘high community level’ for COVID-19, including Cook County.
CHICAGO - Illinois health officials reported 36,843 new COVID-19 cases, including 45 deaths, over the past week as 15 counties are now rated at "high community level" for the virus.
The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting a total of 3,286,377 cases, including 33,806 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic.
As of Thursday night, 1,136 individuals in Illinois were in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 123 were in the ICU and 35 patients with COVID were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide case rate is 289 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Illinoisans, health officials said.
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The case rate has been slowly rising in the state, and 15 Illinois counties have a high community level of COVID-19, according to the CDC.
Those counties include Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry and Will.
At the high community level, the CDC recommends that all people wear a well-fitting mask in indoor spaces regardless of vaccination status. Those at risk of severe outcomes should consider avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public places, officials said.
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Another 30 counties are rated in the medium community level, officials said.
"With 45 counties in Illinois now rated at a Medium or High Community Level, we should all be sure that we are up-to-date with vaccinations and booster shots," IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars said in a statement. "We should all strongly consider masking up if we are entering indoor public places and avoiding indoor crowed spaces whenever possible at this time – especially if you are at risk of a severe outcome."
State health officials said more than 76% of Illinois' total population have received at least one vaccine dose and more than 69% are fully vaccinated. More than half of Illinois residents have received the booster shot, health officials said.
Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found here.