(Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

All residents of Cook County — including those in Chicago — once again face a “high” risk of contracting COVID-19, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control.

One week ago, federal officials lowered the risk warning level to high for Cook County. But even as confirmed cases of COVID-19 continued to drop, hospitalizations rose just enough across Cook County to trigger an increase in the warning level by federal officials.

Residents should continue to wear a mask indoors, regardless of whether federal officials peg the COVID-19 risk at medium or high, according to Chicago Department of Health officials.

Although COVID-19 posed a high risk in Chicago and Cook County for three weeks, neither state, county nor city officials imposed new restrictions designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Those at high risk for severe illness from a COVID-19 infection include those older than 50, those with underlying medical conditions and the immunocompromised, health officials said.

During the past seven days, new hospitalizations each day in Chicago from COVID-19 dropped by 49%, according to city data.

Cook County now has 10.2 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 residents during a seven-day period, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control.

The threshold set by federal health officials to raise the alert level from “medium” to “high” is 10 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 residents, if a county has a case rate of more than 200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents.

The city of Chicago has 3.5 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 during a seven-day period and a case rate of 177 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents, according to Chicago Department of Public Health data released Friday.

Cook County’s case rate is approximately 202 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents, according to CDC data released Thursday. Last week the case rate was 222, according to CDC data.

Cook County was last at a low COVID-19 risk on May 5.

According to the CDC, 3.5% of staffed hospital beds in Cook County are in use by COVID-19 patients on average during the past seven days. 

In Chicago, 3.6% of staffed hospital beds are in use by COVID-19 patients, according to CDPH data released Tuesday. If 10% of staffed hospital beds in Cook County are in use by COVID-19 patients on average during the past seven days, the risk level would rise to high, according to the CDC.

Federal health officials measure the strain facing hospitals from COVID-19 by the number of new hospital admissions per 100,000 residents during a seven-day period and the percent of staffed hospital beds in use by COVID-19 patients on average during the past seven days.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]