Illinois is continuing to see a rise in COVID cases for the month of November, but how does the data compare to last fall?
Meanwhile, COVID booster shot eligibility could soon expand across the country.
Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic across Illinois today:
‘We're in a Surge,' Chicago's Top Doctor Says Of COVID Cases
“We're in a surge.”
That’s what Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said during a Facebook Live Thursday morning about Chicago’s COVID-19 numbers.
“In terms of what this looks like in our numbers overall, we are in the high transmission risk range,” she continued.
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Chicago is averaging 501 cases per day – an 18 percent increase over the previous week.
Arwady said the city is “averaging about 256 Chicagoans being newly hospitalized with COVID each day.” While she isn’t as concerned with ICU capacity – currently, just 60 older, mostly vulnerable and largely unvaccinated Chicagoans are in the ICU – that could change as the holidays approach.
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“I expect there to be some more transmission associated with holidays, especially where people who are not vaccinated are gathering,” Arwady said.
Read more here.
Marcus Theatres Announces New Vaccine-Required Show Offerings at Select Locations
Chicago-area group Marcus Theatres announced that select locations will start offering coronavirus vaccination-required shows over upcoming weeks.
The shows will be available on two films, twice per day for two weeks at Addison Cinema and Gurnee Mills Cinema, according to the theater group.
Details here.
COVID by the Numbers: 1 Year After the Worst Days of the Pandemic, Here's Where Illinois Stands
For the second year in a row, the state of Illinois is seeing increases in COVID cases during the month of November, but even as officials keep a wary eye on the data, things are still nowhere near as bad as they were at this time in 2020.
Nov. 16 and 17, 2020 represented the highest-number of average daily COVID cases that the state of Illinois had seen during the entire pandemic, capping off a rapid surge in cases that coincided with cooler weather and more residents congregating in indoor spaces.
On those two days, the state was averaging nearly 12,400 new cases of coronavirus per day, a staggering number that strained medical systems to their limit and forced state officials to implement new restrictions on restaurants, businesses and more.
Read more here.
What to Know About COVID Boosters as Pfizer, Moderna Ask FDA to Expand Eligibility
With booster shot eligibility potentially expanding to even more U.S. adults, what can those who have yet to receive their extra dose expect?
An influential U.S. advisory panel will discuss expanding eligibility for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to all adults Friday, a move that could make the shots available as early as this weekend.
The panel advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in setting vaccination recommendations for U.S. doctors and the general public.
Who is Driving COVID-19 Outbreaks in Chicago? Unvaccinated Teenagers
As COVID-19 cases in Chicago continue to creep up, the highest rate of transmission the city is seeing is among unvaccinated 12- to 17-year-olds.
"Unvaccinated teenagers are not only driving a lot of our outbreak right now, but they are [at a] much, much higher risk of getting COVID,” said Dr. Allison Arwday, Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner, during a Facebook Live event Tuesday.
Chicago's seven-day vaccination average shows the lowest percent of vaccines administered among 5- to 11-year-olds, followed by 12- to 17-year-olds.
Read more here.
No Indication of COVID Lockdown in Chicago During Upcoming Winter Months, City's Top Doctor Says
Though concerned for an uptick in COVID-19 cases during upcoming colder months, Chicago's top doctor said there's been no indication that the city is in store for a full lockdown this winter.
"I think where settings are fully vaccinated, I see very little...there's not really an indication for doing some of those shutdowns," Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said. "I'm certainly not expecting to see the major lockdowns like we saw early on."
Should a new variant emerge, however, Arwady said that "all bets would really be off," though she doesn't expect that based on the latest data.
Read more here.
Coronavirus by the Numbers: Illinois Sees 70% Increase in Cases in Recent Weeks
Although numbers are still far behind what the state saw during the delta variant-driven summer surge, COVID cases in Illinois are rapidly increasing, going up by more than 70% in the last three weeks alone.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the state is averaging 3,560 new cases of COVID per day over the last week. That is 72% more than the 2,069 new cases that the state was seeing each day on Oct. 27, the low-point since the delta-driven surge.
While the recent increases in cases are causing some concerns among officials, the upticks are still not nearly what they were over the summer.
Read more here.
Here's When Chicago's Mask Mandate Could Be Removed, According to the City's Top Doctor
When will Chicago be able to forgo face coverings throughout the city? Here's what the health department's top doctor says.
"We've been talking with the state about this," Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said. "If we could get back under 200 cases per day, the masks would come off. No question about it."
Speaking to reporters in a press conference Tuesday, Arwady said the city's 200 cases per day marking has been a threshold set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Chicago is "sticking to it."
Read more here.
