Dr. Allison Arwady: Chicago has 'formally passed' omicron peak
CHICAGO - Both COVID-19 cases and positivity rates are dropping in Chicago, letting Doctor Allison Arwady deliver a rare bit of good news Wednesday afternoon that Chicago has passed the peak of the Omicron surge.
"I am very, very pleased to say we have formally passed the omicron peak here in the city of Chicago," Arwady opened the news conference with.
"However, we are a long way from being out of the woods, and it’s really important over the next few weeks and months that we continue to work hard on getting folks vaccinated, getting folks tested, continuing to wear masks because there’s a long way to come down," she added.
"However, I’m really pleased to have seen this turnaround."
Dr. Arwady went on to say that pertaining to the four major metrics that the Chicago Department of Public Health follows, COVID-19 cases are now formally being called "decreasing." Arwady said Chicago is averaging just under 3,000 cases a day.
Test positivity is also decreasing, sitting currently at 12.6 percent. Test positivity peaked on Jan. 1 at 19.6 percent, Arwady said.
The number of Chicago hospital beds currently occupied is just under 1500, which Arwady said is "just gently decreasing."
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As for ICU capacity, Arwady says it has stayed in the "high risk or high transmission" category, with an average of just over 300 in the ICU with COVID-19.
In December, Arwady says Chicagoans in emergency rooms being diagnosed with COVID-19 peaked at 671 on the 7th.
Now, the city is seeing 132 Chicagoans in ER rooms being diagnosed with COVID across the city.
"That is still high, numbers remain high, but much better," Arwady said. "So that was our first sign of real progress."
Arwady says hospitals are stretched thin, with about 100 Chicagoans dying each week.
With COVID case counts still too high, don't expect restrictions to ease.
"We are nowhere near doing that yet in Chicago, just to be extremely clear," said Arwady.
Arwady also said COVID-19 hospitalizations across Chicago have begun to plateau.
"The most important thing is getting vaccinated because that is the key thing for helping stay out of the hospital," she said.
"The threat is in no way over, but the news is good in terms of the direction it is turning," she added.
At Chicago Public Schools, the CEO says they're working on a plan to drop the quarantine time to five days to match CDC guidance.
CPS saw an increase in students and staff with COVID, as they returned from winter break and the stand-off with CTU.
"Every time we have an extended period, especially when you have something that is happening with a surge, we always see the largest number of cases right after that," said Pedro Martinez, CPS CEO.
Martinez says they've more than doubled the number of students who've signed up for school based testing.
Another testing note, if you test positive and have an underlying condition, doctors say you should act fast to get antiviral medications.
"You get a positive test, reach out to your doctor that same day, because depending on your underlying conditions, you may want to be able to get some of those treatments," said Arwady.
When it comes to masks, Arwady says an N95 or KN95 is great but just make sure you have a mask you'll actually wear.
"A mask is not better if it does not fit your face. A mask is not better if it is uncomfortable and you are taking it on and off," said Arwady. She also said not to wear another mask under your K95 mask.
A mask is key, now that the highly contagious Omicron variant accounts for 99.3% of cases in the Midwest.