Illinois public health officials are urging residents to get vaccinated ahead of holiday gatherings as cases of COVID-19, RSV and influenza rise across the state.
The advice comes as COVID-19 hospitalizations rose 17% over the past week in Illinois, pushing 20 counties in the state to a "medium" community level, according to the CDC.
The only county in the Chicago area currently at a “medium” level of COVID hospital admissions is Kankakee County, with 11 new admissions per 100,000 residents. Numbers are going down there however, with a 17% decrease in new admissions over the last week.
“As hospitalizations for COVID-19, RSV, and flu increase across Illinois, I want to encourage our residents to use all of the tools at their disposal to protect themselves and their loved ones this Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. Vaccines for COVID-19, flu and RSV remain the most effective tool in preventing severe illness, but we can all take proper precautions to enjoy family, food, and fun while keeping those germs away," Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said.
Some areas are seeing reductions in hospitalizations, especially in a three-county area comprised of Kane, Kendall and DeKalb counties. There, hospitalizations dropped by 31.8%, falling to 3.9 admissions per 100,000 residents.
Will and Grundy counties also saw reductions of nearly 16%, with 2.2 admissions per 100,000 residents, according to official data.
While the state of Illinois is seeing mixed results with COVID hospitalizations, numbers are trending upward across the U.S. Nationally, emergency department admissions for COVID have increased by 7.1% in recent weeks, with hospital admissions overall up 8.6% during that time.
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Vohra encourages those attending or hosting holiday gatherings to have proper indoor ventilation, cover coughs and sneezes and wash their hands properly.
Every household in the U.S. is eligible for free at-home tests at COVID.gov.
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