Illinois COVID-19 infection rate peaks in six months as Delta spreads

Fueled by the highly infectious Delta variant, COVID-19 is now spreading in Illinois at the fastest rate seen in more than six months, according to figures released Thursday by public health officials.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,048 new cases of the disease – the highest daily count since early May – to bring the seven-day average case positivity rate statewide at 4.6%.

This exceeds the 4.4% positivity rate the state experienced at the height of its most recent increase in mid-April – and it’s as high as it has been since Jan. 26, when vaccines were still desperately scarce and the state had been on slow lane since the height of the crisis. This is even higher than at the same time last year (3.9% on August 5, 2020), four months before vaccines were available.

And it’s déjà vu again for healthcare workers in hospital wards COVID-19, the state’s fourth wave of coronavirus showing no signs of abating anytime soon. More than 1,200 beds were occupied by coronavirus patients on Wednesday evening, the most since the end of May.

“The reason we want to make sure our hospital systems have beds available isn’t just in case you catch COVID. This is in case you have a car accident, or if you have a heart attack or have some other disease that invades you – you need a hospital bed at your disposal, ”said Governor JB Pritzker at an independent press conference at Southern Illinois University. Edwardsville. “We are always concerned with ensuring that our health systems are accessible to the public. “

The graph is not displayed correctly? Click here.

Illinois measurements are still well below peak numbers, but have jumped exponentially since reaching pandemic lows in mid-June. And with 14 more deaths from COVID-19 reported on Thursday, the state’s average daily death rate has fallen from six to eight per day since early July.

Experts say the nationwide peak is largely the result of the more infectious Delta variant tearing apart unvaccinated populations. That’s why Pritzker issued a mask warrant for schools and long-term care facilities in Illinois a day earlier, as well as a vaccination warrant for some state officials. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White announced Thursday that his employees will need to vape by September 1 or undergo regular testing.

Brian Rich / Sun-Times Dossier

“Turn on the TV and watch what’s going on in Florida, Texas, and a few other states, even Missouri, and you can see that if you don’t act, if you don’t act quickly to protect people in a way. what you know are effective, then you are going to fill hospital beds, ”Pritzker said.

Viral transmission is now considered to be significant or high in all 102 counties in Illinois except five, as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which means federal authorities recommend the use of indoor masks in most of the state.

Regional positivity rates are above 8% in the southern part of the state, which also has some of the lowest vaccination rates in Illinois.

But the numbers are also rising in Chicago, in a way that focuses “very, very strongly among those who are not vaccinated,” the city’s Public Health Commissioner Dr Allison Arwady said in a statement. online question-and-answer session. About 69% of Chicagoans have received at least one injection, according to city data. Less than 0.1% of those residents developed COVID-19, and even fewer ended up in a hospital or worse, according to Arwady.

Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times File

Statewide, 73% of residents have been vaccinated and nearly 57% are fully immunized.

“To all of those who are not vaccinated and who are eligible to get vaccinated, I really want to encourage you to do so because, unfortunately, this variant spreads much faster than any previous variant,” Pritzker said. “Everything that we do here is really designed to slow the spread, to curve the curve and get us back to a more normal life.”

Chicagoans can request a home dose by calling (312) 746-4835. For help finding a photo in suburban Cook County, visit cookcountypublichealth.org or call (833) 308-1988. To find other Illinois suppliers, visit coronavirus.illinois.gov or call (833) 621-1284.