IDPH Announces 30 Counties are at Warning Level: Today, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) issued a press statement warning that 30 counties may face restrictions if new COVID-19 cases continue to rise.  The counties receiving this warning are: Bond, Bureau, Cass, Clinton, Coles, Crawford, DeKalb, DuPage, Effingham, Greene, Grundy, Hancock, Henderson, Jackson, Jasper, Jersey, Lawrence, Madison, McLean, Monroe, Morgan, Pulaski, Schuyler, Shelby, Stark, St. Clair, Tazewell, Vermilion, Washington, Williamson.

According to IDPH, these counties are seeing a rise in cases due in part to large gatherings and some businesses not complying with state guidelines such as social distancing and wearing face coverings and local law enforcement and states’ attorneys are not enforcing important mitigation measures.

IDPH uses numerous indicators when determining if a county is experiencing stable COVID-19 activity, or if there are warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk in the county. A county is considered at the warning level when at least two of the following metrics triggers a warning:

• New cases per 100,000 people. If there are more than 50 new cases per 100,000 people in the county, this triggers a warning.
• Number of deaths. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly number of deaths increases more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly test positivity. This metric indicates a warning when the 7-day test positivity rate rises above 8%.
• ICU availability. If there are fewer than 20% of intensive care units available in the region, this triggers a warning.
• Weekly emergency department visits. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly percent of COVID-19-like-illness emergency department visits increase by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly hospital admissions. A warning is triggered when the weekly number of hospital admissions for COVID-19-like-illness increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Tests performed. This metric is used to provide context and indicate if more testing is needed in the county.
• Clusters. This metric looks at the percent of COVID-19 cases associated with clusters or outbreaks and is used to understand large increase in cases

Updated Specific State Information on COVID-19 Orders:  As usual, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) this week has again updated their comprehensive chart detailing state specific orders, re-opening plans, and other restrictions as well as executive orders and legislation relating to business liability.  This chart is attached to this Update.  These figures will be updated and reported here at least once a week.

Update on COVID-19 Cases: IDPH is reporting 257,788 positive cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, an average increase of 2,049 new cases per day since reported here 2 days ago on September 9.  In total, 4,632,382 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average increase of 52,821 tests per day since September 9.  The state’s average positivity rate over all 11 regions for the last 2 days is at 3.8%, but 3.9% for the last 7 days.  Again, you can see where the various regions are at in terms of their positivity rates, hospitalizations and other metrics at this link.     

Unfortunately, IDPH is reporting a total of 8,273 deaths, an average increase of 29.5 per day since September 9.

You can also check where these cases are occurring at the State of Illinois COVID-19 website which also contains more information on this outbreak.

Also, IDPH has a case breakdown of the number of positive cases in Chicago and each county relative to the number of fatalities.  The IDPH website also now includes a breakdown of the cases under each zip code in the state.

For information on other states and countries, John Hopkins University has developed this website that provides invaluable resources at a one-stop location detailing testing and tracing trends, timelines of COVID-19 policies, and interactive maps.

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