8 Illinois counties in 'high community level' for COVID-19 as new cases, deaths continue to climb

Chicago Dr. Allison Arwady warns Covid-19 cases on the rise

The Chicago area could soon move into the "high" level of COVID-19 transmission, according to a new warning Tuesday from city health officials.

CHICAGO - Illinois health officials reported 40,193 new COVID-19 cases, including 56 deaths, over the past week.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting a total of 3,249,534 cases, including 33,761 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic.

As of Thursday night, 1,060 individuals in Illinois were in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 116 were in the ICU and 43 patients with COVID were on ventilators.

The preliminary seven-day statewide case rate is 315 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 eight Illinois counties have a high community level of COVID-19, according to the CDC.

The counties include Boone, Champaign, Ford, Lee, Peoria, Stephenson, Tazewell and Winnebago.

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.

"With COVID-19 case counts rising across the state, the public should understand that they can take action to protect themselves, their loved ones, and friends," said IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars. "Everyone should make sure they are up-to-date with vaccinations and booster shots. As we see movement into higher community risk levels, masking up in indoor public places and avoiding crowded indoor spaces as much as possible will also make a difference."

Another 39 counties are rated in the medium community level, officials said.

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: https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19.html.