(Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
The threat of COVID-19 eased across Chicago and Cook County Thursday, as federal officials moved the warning level to “low” after just nine weeks at “medium,” according to Centers for Disease Control data.
The move is likely to reduce fears, at least temporarily, of a significant winter surge of COVID-19 across Cook County.
During the past seven days, an average of 31 people have been hospitalized each day in Chicago from COVID-19, down more than 40% during the past week, according to city data last updated Wednesday.
Chicago Department of Public Health officials announced this week that they would no longer update data tracking the path of the pandemic every day, as it has done since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Instead, data will be updated every Wednesday, officials said.
Cook County now has 84 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents, a decrease from last week. In addition, hospitalizations dropped across the Chicago region prompting federal officials to reduce the risk level, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.
Residents of regions face a low risk of COVID-19 if there is a case rate of less than 200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents and fewer than 10 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 residents. Cook County had nine new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 residents, according to CDC data and 85 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents during the past week, 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.
According to the CDC, 4.3% of staffed hospital beds in Cook County are in use by COVID-19 patients on average during the past seven days.
The city of Chicago has eight new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 residents during a seven-day period and a case rate of 84 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents, according to Chicago Department of Public Health data released Thursday.
In Chicago, 3.5% of staffed hospital beds are in use by COVID-19 patients, according to CDPH data.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
