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COVID-19 Risk Bounces Back Down to ‘Low’ Across Chicago, Cook County: Federal Officials | Chicago News

(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 one week at “medium,” according to Centers for Disease Control data.

That is likely to reduce fears, at least temporarily, of an imminent surge of COVID-19 once colder weather settled over Chicago for the duration, forcing people indoors.

All Chicagoans eligible for a COVID-19 booster designed to fight the omicron variant of the virus and a flu vaccine should be inoculated as soon as possible, said Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

During the past seven days, an average of 31 people have been hospitalized each day in Chicago from COVID-19, unchanged since a week ago, according to city data.

Cook County now has 103 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents, a decrease from last week. In addition, hospitalizations dropped slightly across the Chicagoland region prompting federal officials to reduce the risk level, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.

Cook County now has 9.1 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 residents during a seven-day period, according to data released by the CDC.

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.

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, 3.7% 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 8.1 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 residents during a seven-day period and a case rate of 104 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents, according to Chicago Department of Public Health data released Thursday.

In Chicago, 3.7% of staffed hospital beds are in use by COVID-19 patients, according to CDPH data.

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

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