Union County at low community level for COVID

As Illinois prepared to celebrate the New Year, the Illinois Department of Public Health, IDPH, said on Friday, Dec. 30, that the CDC was reporting 54 counties in the state were at an elevated level for COVID-19. 

Of those, five Illinois counties were at a high community level, compared to 33 a week earlier; while 49 counties were at  a medium level, compared to 55 the week before. 

Union, Alexander and Pulaski counties were at a low community level as of Friday.

Johnson and Massac counties were at a high community level.

Jackson and Williamson counties were at a high community level.

On Friday, IDPH reported 15,904 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois since Dec. 23, and 47 deaths.

“I applaud Illinois citizens for practicing important preventative measures to reduce the spread of infection and protect our hospital capacity,” IDPH director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a news release. 

“However, as we continue to experience significant levels of flu, COVID-19, and other respiratory infections, it is important to continue protecting those most vulnerable to severe outcomes, especially individuals over 65, those immunocompromised and those with chronic medical conditions.

The IDPH director encouraged everyone to “welcome 2023 by getting up-to-date with the COVID-19 bivalent booster and getting your yearly flu shot, if you haven’t already.” 

IDPH announced last week that as of the end of 2022, it would be following the lead of the CDC and shifting from daily reporting of new COVID-19 cases and deaths to weekly reporting. As of Jan. 1, daily case and death data are no longer being reported. IDPH now will report weekly data on Wednesday of each week for the previous week ending Sunday. 

The CDC announced it was making the shift from daily to weekly reporting of case and death data in October. 

IDPH officials said they believe that weekly reporting will provide the public with a more accurate picture of COVID-19 trends across the state over time by tracking cases and deaths by the week they arise, rather than the date they are reported, which may be days or weeks later.

As of Friday, IDPH was reporting a total of 3,969,832 cases, including 35,761 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic.

Of Illinois’ total population, more than 78 percent had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, 71 percent had completed their primary series of COVID-19 vaccines, and of the eligible population, more than 18 percent had received the bivalent booster dose, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All data are provisional and are subject to change.