Twenty Illinois counties now at ‘high’ community levels of COVID-19

The number of Illinois counties at “high” COVID-19 community levels has declined, according to data released Thursday evening by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Twenty counties are now at the level at which the CDC recommends people mask indoors in public spaces, down five from the prior week. Forty-seven counties are at “medium” levels of COVID-19, up eight from the prior week.

Cook County, which previously was at a “medium” level, moved back to “high” this week.

As of Wednesday, 1,129 Illinoisans were in the hospital with COVID-19, down 15 from Tuesday and down 59 from the prior week.

Of the patients in the hospital, 122 were in intensive care units, down seven from Tuesday and from the prior week. Twenty percent of Illinois’ ICU beds were available, down 1 percentage point from the prior week.

There were 34 patients on ventilators, the same as Tuesday and down five from the prior week.

The Department of Public Health reported 3,493 new COVID-19 cases and 16 deaths on Thursday. The new cases bring the state total to 3,401,621, while the death toll is at 34,054.

The seven-day average for new cases on Thursday was 3,575, down 676 from the prior week. The seven-day average for daily deaths is 11, up two from the prior week.

The seven-day case rate per 100,000 people is 28.1, down 5.3 from the prior week.

Illinois vaccinators have administered 22,593,723 COVID-19 vaccines, including 4,591,519 booster doses. The seven-day average for doses administered is 8,818.