40K New Illinois COVID Cases, 45 Deaths, More Counties At Medium Risk

ILLINOIS — New confirmed cases of the coronavirus continue to be reported across Illinois, as at least 10 counties in the greater Chicago area have seen their case levels elevate to bump them into a higher-risk category, health officials said.

As of Friday, 23 Illinois counties have risen into the medium category, including Cook, Kane, McHenry, Lake, DuPage, DeKalb, Kendall and Will counties. On Friday, Grundy and LaSalle counties were added to that list after seeing a jump out of the low-transmission category.

On Friday, the city of Evanston reported that it had risen into the “high” transmission rate category after being in the medium category a week before, health officials said. Evanston is the only local municipality to rise into the highest category, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards.

However, in a week in which state health officials reported more than 40,000 new cases across Illinois, several Chicago-area counties remain in the medium-transmission category after spending recent months in the low category.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 45 deaths, which was down from 46 the week prior. However, the number of new cases increased by nearly 10,000 across the state. In the past two weeks, the caseload across Illinois has jumped 62 percent with an increase of more than 15,000 new cases.

In total, 3,209,341 coronavirus cases have been reported across Illinois, with 33,705 confirmed deaths.

Under the medium-transmission category, CDC officials said that the immunocompromised face high risks of contracting COVID-19. As of Friday, health officials said that 909 people across Illinois are hospitalized with COVID-19, 87 patients are in intensive care, and 25 are on ventilators.

More than 69 percent of Illinois residents have been fully vaccinated, while 76 percent of all residents have received at least one dose of the vaccines.