Winnebago County at ‘high’ level of COVID-19 spread

Winnebago is the lone Illinois county where federal health offices urge masking in indoor public spaces due to COVID-19 trends, according to Thursday data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last week, no counties were at that level.

Twenty counties are now at a “medium” risk level, down 12 from the prior week.

As of Wednesday, 1,142 Illinoisans were in the hospital with COVID-19, up 59 from Tuesday and up 33 from the prior week.

The Department of Public Health reported 2,758 new COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths on Thursday. The new cases bring the state total to 3,848,711, while the death toll is at 35,379.

The seven-day average for new cases on Thursday was 1,969, up 43 from the prior week. The seven-day average for daily deaths is seven, down one from the prior week.

The seven-day case rate per 100,000 people is 15.5, up 0.4 from the prior week.

About 74.8 percent of Illinoisans over the age of 5 are fully vaccinated. There have been 5,101,126 total booster doses administered, with the seven-day average for daily COVID-19 doses given at 22,264.