As US national emergency ends, COVID cases drop in Illinois. Here’s what to know
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports COVID-19 cases are down across Illinois, while deaths have seen a slight uptick in the past week.
The CDC rated six Illinois counties at medium levels in the Thursday update, compared to 14 at a medium level the previous week, and no counties were at high levels for the fourth consecutive week.
Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone, Ogle and Lee counties were at a medium level. Data was not available for Hancock County.
The CDC COVID-19 community levels are updated Thursdays and are 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 patients and new cases per 100,000 people.
People in high community level areas are advised to wear a mask indoors and on public transportation, and the federal agency says people at a higher risk of severe illness should consider precautions in medium-level areas.
Cases have dropped recently in Illinois, though deaths have increased slightly. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 5,584 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 16 deaths for the week ending April 2, compared to 7,159 cases and 14 deaths in the previous week.
The U.S. COVID-19 national emergency officially ended April 10, three years after the pandemic began. A separate federal public health emergency will expire May 11, NPR reports.
“It is great to see COVID-19 community levels remaining low as we enjoy some warmer springtime weather,” IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in an April 14 statement. “While President Joe Biden signed a measure to end the national emergency this week, IDPH remains focused on reducing the spread of COVID-19 across Illinois. With the public health emergency and statewide disaster declaration remaining in place until May 11, IDPH is actively working with our local and federal partners to transition our operations and programs for the new normal.”
COVID-19 in St. Clair County, Illinois
The CDC reported St. Clair County’s weekly case rate dropped to 39.28 per 100,000 people as of Thursday. New COVID-19 hospital admissions were also relatively low at 2.5 hospitalized per 100,000 people, and 1.7% of the county’s staffed inpatient beds were in use by patients with COVID-19.
Intensive care unit availability was at 19% in southwestern Illinois as of Thursday, IDPH reported, while 91% of ventilators were available. Across Illinois, 537 ICU beds were available out of 2,868.
Test positivity was at 2.53% in St. Clair County as of April 10, the CDC reported, and the rate of tests performed was up by 22.35% as of April 6.
As of Thursday night, IDPH reported 568 Illinois residents were hospitalized with COVID-19, including 61 ICU patients and 21 people on ventilators.
Information about vaccination and testing is available online in St. Clair County.
Note: Some CDC data, such as test positivity rates, the number of tests performed and weekly case rate, update on different days. IDPH data and CDC data may not update at the same time, so metrics may vary across agencies.
