State, city leaders tracking omicron variant

Chicago and state leaders said Monday they are working with their federal counterparts to learn more about the omicron variant of COVID-19.

The new strand was identified on Nov. 26 as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization.

President Joe Biden said Monday the new variant is a “cause for concern, not a cause for panic” and urged Americans to receive their COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots.

Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said Monday they have not yet identified any cases of the omicron variant.

“IDPH will continue to work with the CDC to learn more about this variant and monitor for cases,” she said. “IDPH continues to sequence specimens to quickly identify new variants and well as predominant variants.”

“At this point, there are many questions which scientists across the world, and at the Chicago Department of Public Health, are actively working to address all while closely monitoring this strain,” echoed Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

IDPH reported 4,590 COVID-19 cases and eight deaths on Monday. The new cases bring the state’s total to 1,804,161, while the death toll is 26,391.

The seven-day average for new cases is 4,130, down 262 from the prior week. The seven-day average for daily deaths is 16, down seven from the prior week.

As of Sunday, 2,287 Illinoisans were in the hospital with COVID-19, up 112 from Saturday and up 454 from the prior week.

Of the patients in the hospital, 446 were in the ICU, up 26 from Saturday and up 105 from the prior week. There were 212 patients on ventilators, up 20 from Saturday and up 59 from the prior week.

The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a percent of total tests is 4.1 percent. The seven-day statewide test positivity using the number of COVID-19 positive tests over total tests is 5.2 percent.

About 78.4 percent of eligible Illinoisans ages 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 71.6 percent are fully vaccinated.

Illinois vaccinators have administered 17,234,911 COVID-19 vaccines, per state data. The seven-day average of doses administered is 48,456.