St. Clair moves back to low COVID community level. Here’s the 42 IL counties at high

St. Clair County has moved to a low COVID-19 community level once again under the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest update, though 42 counties across the state remain at high.

Last week, St. Clair County was at a high level, reporting a case rate of 211.79 per 100,000 individuals. As part of its Thursday update, the CDC reports 505 new cases there, with a case rate of 194.47.

Some of the southern Illinois counties at a high community level as of Thursday include Clay, Richland, Lawrence, Wabash, Edwards, Wayne, Jefferson, Perry, Franklin, Williamson, Gallatin, Saline, Hardin, Pope, Johnson, Massac, Pulaski and Alexander.

In the metro-east, Madison, Bond and Monroe counties are at a low level, while Clinton, Randolph and Washington are at medium.

In counties at high levels, the CDC recommends individuals mask in public, indoor places. Those at high risk for severe illness should consider additional safety measures at medium levels as well, the agency advises.

The community levels are updated weekly and based on new cases and COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people (seven-day totals) and the percent of staffed designated bed occupied (a seven-day average).

COVID-19 in Illinois and St. Clair County

In a Friday release, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 25,084 new cases over the past week, along with 56 more deaths. To date, 34,595 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in the state.

In addition, as of Thursday, 1,434 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state, 56 of which were on ventilators.

The state’s weekly case rate came in at to 197 per 100,000 individuals.

In a Friday Facebook post, the St. Clair County Health Department reported a seven-day average case rate of 194.47 per 100,000 people.

In a separate post, the agency encouraged residents to seek vaccination and boosters.

COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S.

More than 8.8 million Illinois residents are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, the CDC reports, a little less than 70% of the population.

More Americans could be eligible for boosters soon, White House officials said Wednesday. Development of new booster shots has been aimed at the omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, which are the dominant strains in the country.

Currently, additional boosters are only available in the U.S. to those ages 12 and older with a weakened immune system and all individuals older than 50.

You can schedule a COVID-19 vaccine or find testing locations online in St. Clair County.