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COVID-19 roundup: Statewide hospitalization decrease accelerates

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Illinois

* 6,507 hospitalizations were reported by IDPH today. That’s down from 6,695 reported yesterday, or 2.8 percent. The 7-day rolling average decrease is now 1.7 percent, down from the 1.04 percent average decrease yesterday. Deaths were up, but that’s likely due to the holiday. Coroners weren’t working. Death stats are not reliable the first day or even two back from a weekend, particularly a long one. Other outlets jumped the gun.

* Daily Herald…

Of those hospitalized, 1,085 are in intensive care, down 4.1% from a week ago, according to Illinois Department of Public Health records.

IDPH officials also reported 160 more COVID-19 deaths, as well as 26,491 new cases of the respiratory disease.

That’s the highest number of deaths recorded in a single day from the virus in more than a year, IDPH records show.

It also brings the state’s death toll from the virus to 29,510, while 2,709,474 infections have been diagnosed since the outset of the pandemic.

Again, some or even many of those new deaths reported are very likely due to coroners and others not working over the holiday weekend.

* Don’t celebrate yet, particularly if you don’t live in Chicago or the area around it…

Chicago has passed its peak in the latest COVID-19 surge, the city’s chief health officer says.

“We have formally passed the omicron peak” in the city of Chicago, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said at a news conference today with CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. There’s a way to go, but “I’m really pleased to have seen this turnaround,” she says. See the latest city and state COVID figures in the charts below.

COVID cases in Chicago peaked Jan. 4, with a daily total of 8,553 cases that day. Today, the case average is 2,903.

That’s “still very high, the risk remains high, but (we’re) heading in the right direction,” Arwady said.

The risk remains high. Remember that. Let’s not go backward.

* Jake Griffin…

Vaccine providers in Illinois have now administered 20,054,921 doses, according to IDPH records.

IDPH officials also report vaccine providers are averaging 47,010 inoculations a day over the past week.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8,250,044 Illinois residents are considered fully vaccinated. That accounts for 65.1% of the state’s 12.7 million residents. These figures include residents who were vaccinated in other states.

Of those fully vaccinated, 43.6% have received a booster dose, CDC records show.

Statewide, the CDC reports far northwestern Jo Daviess County has the highest percentage of its population fully vaccinated, at 75.2%. Lake County has the second-highest fully vaccinated rate, at 74.7%. DuPage County is third at 74.1%.

* More…

* Under strain, UChicago Medicine Ingalls hospital gets medical workers from federal government

* Biden to give away 400 million N95 masks starting next week

* Suburban Chicago COVID testing company sued by Minnesota officials

* Cook County Health reopens mass vaccination site in Forest Park

* Lightfoot back in action — and masked — a week after COVID-19 diagnosis

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jan 19, 22 @ 3:11 pm

Comments

whoops, i forgot the punctuation rule. i was genuinely excited, and not being snarky or provocative. good work, jo daviess county.

Comment by moving forward Wednesday, Jan 19, 22 @ 4:25 pm
I’m beginning to think that it does no good for Illinois to report each tiny change up or down; random-chance variance does not have any statistical significance. It would be far better to report on a longer basis (perhaps 5-7 days), rather than the constant bombardment of figures that lead to burnout of people trying to sort out the risk level and actions needed. The hospital and ICU rates are more important to policy and public response, if for no other reason that packed hospitals effect non-Covid needs as well.

Comment by thisjustinagain Wednesday, Jan 19, 22 @ 5:02 pm
Looks like some of the highest-vaccination-rate counties are those which can swing statewide elections. Might have an impact on campaign themes.

Comment by walker Wednesday, Jan 19, 22 @ 5:05 pm
good trend, but so concerning when hospitals need medical workers sent in by the Feds. to be down medical staff is quite frightening.

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Jan 19, 22 @ 5:54 pm
There hasn’t been a whole lot of reporting or attention being given to the fact that there have been instances of emergency room physicians evaluating patients in the waiting room over the last couple of weeks.

Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Jan 19, 22 @ 10:18 pm