CDC puts 7 southwest IL counties at low COVID level. What to know about new cases
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put St. Clair County at a low level in the latest COVID-19 community levels update.
The CDC rated 28 Illinois counties at a high level, including Adams, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Coles, Crawford, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Lawrence, Lee, Marion, Massac, Ogle, Perry, Pike, Saline, Wabash, Wayne, Whiteside and Williamson.
The agency categorized 40 counties at a medium level, including Jersey, Washington, Randolph and others. St. Clair, Calhoun, Macoupin, Madison, Bond, Clinton and Monroe were at low levels.
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The CDC’s COVID-19 community levels are updated Thursdays and based on metrics from the past seven days, including new hospital admissions per 100,000 people, average percent of staffed, inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients and new cases per 100,000 people.
The agency advises people in high community level areas to wear a mask indoors and on public transportation, and people at a higher risk of severe illness should consider precautions in medium level areas.
COVID-19 in Illinois and St. Clair County
As of Thursday evening, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,314 people in the state were in the hospital with COVID-19, including 163 individuals in intensive care units and 48 patients on ventilators.
The statewide daily case rate is 22.3 per 100,000 people, according to IDPH, and 19% of ICU beds were available as of Friday. The seven-day rolling number of hospital admissions is 116, and the state reported 64 weekly deaths.
St. Clair County’s daily case rate is 21 per 100,000 people, and IDPH reported 20% of the county’s ICU beds were available. The seven-day rolling number of hospital admissions in St. Clair County is two, and IDPH reported three weekly deaths in the county.
The CDC reported St. Clair County’s weekly case rate per 100,000 population was 147.49, and there were 6.6 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people. The federal agency also reported 3.4% of staffed inpatient beds in the county were in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19.
Cases are down 19.87% in St. Clair County, according to the CDC, and test positivity decreased by 2.85% while the rate of tests performed increased by 8.87%.
Bivalent booster shots from Moderna and Pfizer are now available in Illinois, and Southern Illinois University Medicine Dr. Vidya Sundareshan told the News-Democrat the shots were “very effective.”
“(The U.S. Food and Drug Administration) does a really thorough job of investigating and making sure that before vaccines are approved or medications are approved, there is enough data on the safety,” Sundareshan said. “We have seen millions and millions of people get the COVID shot, the MRNA shots – the technology is the same.”
Some Walgreens locations in Belleville, Shiloh, O’Fallon, Waterloo, Collinsville, Swansea and other areas are now offering appointments for the new booster shot.
You can find COVID-19 testing and vaccination information online in St. Clair County.
Note: Some CDC data, such as test positivity rates, the number of tests performed and total case rate, update on different days. IDPH data and CDC data may not update at the same time, so metrics may vary across agencies.
This story was originally published September 11, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
