As fall hits its halfway point, numerous Illinois counties are seeing increases in COVID-related hospitalizations, with at least two seeing increases of more than 200% in recent days.
According to information available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a total of 10 Illinois counties are considered to be at a “medium” level of COVID hospital admissions, indicating increasing cases within those communities.
Of those, only one is in the NBC Chicago viewing area, with Kankakee County reporting a 233% increase in admissions over the last week.
In all, there were 20 new admissions for COVID to hospitals in Kankakee and Iroquois counties, officials said.
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Another area of concern is in Fayette and Effingham County, which have seen nine new COVID admissions, a massive increase over the previous week.
According to the CDC data, any community seeing 10 new COVID admissions per 100,000 residents is considered to be at a “medium” level of hospitalizations, and residents in those areas are urged to use increased caution to help tamp down the spread of the virus.
Jo Daviess and Stephenson counties have seen a 43% increase in admissions to 11 per 100,000 residents, while Edgar and Vermilion County have seen an increase of 66.7% in admissions in the last week.
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Most of the state, 92 of the 102 counties in Illinois, remain at a “low” level of hospitalizations, the CDC says. Cook County has reported 336 new admissions related to COVID this week, marking a 2.4% increase.
Here are the rest of the numbers from around the area.
McHenry/Lake/Cook/DuPage: 336 new admissions, 4.7 admissions per 100,000 residents
DeKalb/Kane/Kendall: 25 new admissions, 3.3 new admissions per 100,000 residents
LaSalle County: 6 new admissions, 3.3 new admissions per 100,000 residents
Will/Grundy: 22 new admissions, 3 new admissions per 100,000 residents
