The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have created an easy way to know how long a person should remain in isolation after being exposed to or testing positive for COVID-19 with a new quarantine calculator.
Using a series of questions, the CDC recommends whether a patient should quarantine away from others, isolate themselves entirely or take other steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Click here for the quarantine calculator.
However, there are a few groups of individuals to which the tool does not apply, according to health officials.
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"The guidance provided in this tool does not apply to people who are moderately or severely ill or immunocompromised," the CDC wrote. "This tool does not apply to cases and close contacts identified in certain settings."
According to the CDC, "moderately ill" refers to people experiencing symptoms that impact the lungs, such as shortness of breath and difficulty breathing. "Severely ill" refers to hospitalization, intensive care units or ventilation support.
Those living in or frequently visiting high-risk congregate settings, families with children in kindergarten through 8th grade, and those in early care and education programs should visit the CDC's further guidance as opposed to using the quarantine calculation tool.
News
After a brief increase in Illinois, the state's daily average of new coronavirus cases has begun to flatten out once again, with hospitalizations also dropping to near-record lows this week.
According to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the state reported 748 new cases of the virus on Monday. That number pushed the state’s daily average over the last week down to 1,157 new cases per day, keeping it near the lowest levels the state has seen since the omicron surge over the winter.
The state’s positivity rate has inched upward to 1.5% on all tests, according to IDPH data, but that also corresponds with a drop in the number of tests performed in Illinois, with just 33,487 new results returned to state labs over the last 24 hours.
Hospitalizations have continued their recent downward trend, with 461 patients currently hospitalized with COVID in the state. Of those, just 59 are currently in intensive care units, the lowest number the state has reported during the entire pandemic.
On Monday, the state reported zero additional deaths related to COVID, leaving Illinois at 33,487 coronavirus-fatalities during the pandemic. Another 4,283 deaths are currently classified as “probable” COVID fatalities, per state officials.
The state is averaging 16 deaths per day over the last seven days, keeping up a flattening trend in that metric as well.
The state is now averaging 74,689 new COVID tests per day, representing a downward trend in that category. In all, more than 57 million COVID tests have been performed in Illinois since the pandemic began.
According to state health officials, Illinois is averaging 7,107 new COVID vaccinations per day. More than 8.6 million Illinoisans age five and older, 72.4% of that population group, have been fully vaccinated against the virus, per state officials.
More than 4.2 million booster shots have been administered statewide during the pandemic.
