Illinois Covid Numbers RISING AGAIN; How Does This Impact You?
Is covid really in the rear view mirror? New covid numbers are rising again, prompting some Illinois and national officials to look warily at bringing back some mitigations, as the CDC has gone to court to bring back the travel mask mandate.
Mask mandates and other mitigations have been off the table for a while as covid numbers had faded down to much more manageable levels, hospitalizations had fallen dramatically, and other metrics were far lower than they had been late last year and early this year as the various variants of covid were hitting their peak.
However, over the past few weeks, covid cases are rising in the state of Illinois, as hospitalizations and ICU admissions have remained mostly steady in recent weeks, according to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has yet to announce any changes in the Illinois covid policies from their current status.
As of Monday, the state of Illinois is now averaging 2,191 new cases of coronavirus per day. That represents an increase of 25% in the last week, with the average number of new daily cases rising from 1,753 on April 11. BA.2 omicron subvariants now represent nearly all U.S. cases at this point, as the latest variant has overtaken previous ones.
On Friday, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the CDC announced that three counties in Illinois — DuPage, McLean, and Piatt — have shifted from “low risk” to “medium” community levels. The CDC recommends that those at risk for severe disease, such as the elderly or immunocompromised, wear a mask in indoor places when COVID-19 community levels reach “medium.”
The levels are determined by a combination of three county-level indicators: new COVID-19 cases, new hospitalizations and the percent of staffed hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Colleges are encouraging students to get vaccinated to prevent the spread of covid.
To help combat the increase in COVID cases, IDPH announced they will begin sending text alerts to about 2.5 million Illinois residents enrolled in the Illinois Comprehensive Automated Immunization Registry (I-CARE), an online vaccination records database developed by IDPH.
In addition, the policy of having to wear masks on planes and during travel may not be in the past.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that it requested the Justice Department to proceed with an appeal of a ruling that lifted a travel mask mandate.
“CDC believes this is a lawful order, well within CDC’s legal authority to protect public health. CDC continues to recommend that people wear masks in all indoor public transportation settings,” the agency wrote in a statement adding that it will continue to monitor public health conditions to “determine whether such an order remains necessary.”
For continuing coverage of covid-19 and how it impacts your life, read your free, fact-based local media, QuadCities.com.
