COVID-19 Update: Illinois reports 1,761 new cases, 11 deaths; IDPH changes how it reports virus data

Illinois public well being officers word that “each day deaths reported on weekends and in the beginning of the week could also be low as IDPH and native well being departments transfer away from reviewing and processing COVID-19 demise data over the weekend. These deaths will probably be captured in subsequent days.”

There have been at the least 3,086,665 complete COVID circumstances, together with at the least 33,489 associated deaths within the state because the pandemic started.

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IDPH knowledge exhibits Illinois has a case fee of 13.7 per 100,000 folks throughout the state, with 26% of ICU beds accessible. The seven-day common for hospital admissions is 34.

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A complete of 21,581,107 vaccine doses have been administered in Illinois as of Monday , and 64.53% of the state’s inhabitants is totally vaccinated. The seven-day rolling common of vaccines administered each day is nineteen,632.

Whereas there’s been a gradual improve within the variety of COVID-19 circumstances in latest weeks, hospitalizations and deaths have remained comparatively regular.

In contrast to what’s taking place in Philadelphia and different components of the nation, there was no dialogue throughout the Illinois Dept. of Public Well being a couple of return to a masks mandate.

“That isn’t one thing we’re speaking about presently,” mentioned Dr. Amaal Tokars, performing director of IDPH. “Nonetheless, I’d by no means say that nothing is feasible. We’re going to do what we predict is wisest and finest primarily based on the present circumstances that we see.”

IDPH additionally introduced modifications Tuesday in the best way it reviews COVID-19 knowledge to be consistent with federal pointers.

Some acquainted metrics, together with take a look at positivity and case positivity charges, will not be reported. It is partly as a result of labs not must report unfavourable antigen assessments, and likewise due to the widespread use of house assessments impacting take a look at knowledge.

And so consistent with federal pointers, three foremost metrics will probably be used to evaluate neighborhood transmission:

1) New COVID circumstances per 100,000 folks previously 7 days

2) New hospital admissions per 100,000 previously 7 days
3) Proportion of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 sufferers

Based mostly on these metrics, officers would advocate elevated vaccination for a neighborhood within the low transmission class. A medium transmission class would immediate a masks advice for seniors and folks with underlying situations. And if a neighborhood is in excessive transmission, masking will probably be advisable for everybody in indoor public areas.

“The CDC is definitely transferring away from simply taking a look at COVID as a climate report, so to talk, and taking a look at it extra when it comes to how does it actually influence our hospital methods,” mentioned IDPH’s Dr. Arti Barnes.

Apart from just a few southern counties, officers mentioned the overwhelming majority of Illinois is in low transmission.