COVID-19 updates in Illinois: here’s what’s going to happen on Thursday

Despite the improvement in COVID-19 numbers across the country, a recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Chicago and across the state has concerned top officials.

Governor JB Pritzker warned that the state may be losing ground in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, and said that authorities will be watching the numbers to see if the recent reversals in several positive trends are the result of more rapidly spreading variants of the virus or possibly “a data breach”.

The statewide case positivity rate reached a seven-day average of 2.8% on Wednesday, the highest level since the state reported the same rate for the week ending February 22. The positivity rate fell slightly to 2.7% on Thursday.

Officials reported on Thursday 2,190 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 35 additional deaths, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,229,898 and the number of deaths across the state to 21,171 since the beginning of the pandemic.

“I’m very worried. If you look at our data from the last 10-day week, it looks like we are in October when we saw the second sudden increase happen, ”said Lightfoot.

Nationally, there was more encouraging news, with COVID-19 deaths dropping below 1,000 a day, on average, for the first time since November. Even with more Americans being vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he is not ready to declare that the country has turned the corner, reports the Associated Press.

“We are on the corner. Whether or not we are going to turn the corner, it remains to be seen, ”he said at a press conference at the White House.

Here’s what’s going on Thursday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area:

Another 118,544 doses of coronavirus vaccine were administered in Illinois on Wednesday, bringing the statewide total to 5,154,908, public health officials said.

The number of residents who were fully vaccinated – receiving the two required vaccines or the single injection from Johnson & Johnson – reached 1,921,995, or 15.09% of the total population.

The state had an average of 101,175 vaccines administered daily for the past seven days.

The state also reported 27 cases of a COVID-19 variant first detected in Los Angeles County in July. The variant had not been reported previously in Illinois.

The Illinois Department of Public Health website says that “further studies on the infectivity and severity of this variant are needed.”

In addition, there were 21 additional cases of the coronavirus variant originating in the United Kingdom, totaling 167, and three additional cases of the Brazilian variants, totaling nine. The authorities previously identified three cases of the variant that originated in South Africa.

West Aurora School District 129 will offer free rapid tests of COVID-19 at school on a voluntary basis for students who are experiencing symptoms of the virus while preparing to return to five days of in-person learning per week.

The test plan comes as West Aurora increases face-to-face learning to five days a week at all levels, starting on April 7, in the wake of the new guidance issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health, which has reduced the distance guidelines social from 1.80 to 1 meter.

The five days of face-to-face learning will affect students whose families have opted for the combined learning plan at elementary, middle and high school levels, as well as at the Early Learning Academy, district officials said.

Masks will still be needed and protocols for cleaning buildings will still be followed according to new state rules, district officials said.

West Aurora Assistant Operations Superintendent Angie Smith said the COVID-19 rapid tests will be administered to students by the district’s trained nursing staff.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has eased restrictions on outdoor dining, exercise classes, weddings and venues such as theaters, her administration announced on Thursday.

Citing a worrying increase in coronavirus cases, Lightfoot said he would maintain current capacity limits in closed establishments. But bars and restaurants can now increase the maximum size of their outdoor tables to 10 people, with the tables arranged so that customers are two meters away from customers at other tables, the city said.

Weddings and potlucks can increase to less than 50% or 100 people, the city said.

Outdoor performance spaces, theaters and events with sitting spectators with capacity greater than or equal to 200 can operate at 25% of capacity, she said.

Smaller locations can operate at a maximum of 50% capacity or 50 people, the city said.

Groups of up to 50 people can participate in outdoor recreation and locals can have as many people as they want, as long as there are six feet between parties.

Outdoor fitness classes can reach 100 people, the city said.

In a call with reporters, Lightfoot was asked whether he sends contradictory messages to warn of the increase in cases, but to expand the outdoor capacity. Lightfoot said the increase in cases is due more to internal activities with people who don’t wear masks.

Illinois health officials announced on Thursday 2,190 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 35 additional deaths, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,229,898 and the number of deaths across the state to 21,171 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The authorities also reported 90,101 new tests in the past 24 hours. The positivity rate for cases across the state is 2.7%.

The 7-day daily average of vaccine doses administered is 101,175, with 118,544 doses given on Wednesday. The authorities also say that a total of 5,154,908 vaccines have already been administered.

When travelers venture back, many – especially those flying abroad – will need to manage new requirements to prove that the COVID-19 test was negative or received a vaccine.

Commercial groups from the travel industry, airlines and other organizations are developing so-called vaccine passports to facilitate navigation through the ever-changing rules. Most are in the early stages or are used only on certain destinations, although their creators say they are working to expand usage. What is less clear is whether any will emerge as a widely accepted standard worldwide.

In the meantime, here’s what you need to know.

The adult prison population fell by almost 16% from the end of February 2020 to the end of last month, according to data from the state Department of Corrections compiled in the report. The prison population fell each month during that year and was 19,581 at the end of last month, the lowest point since the end of October 1999. The figures include prisoners under contract in municipal jails.

The number of prisoners in county prisons has also declined. The daily average of the prison population fell 35% between April 2019 and April 2020, from 12,871 to 8,338. Prisons in 18 counties have seen their population drop by at least half. The drop in the number of prisoners was immediate, decreasing to 3,832 prisoners between February and April 2020. The decline reflected a decrease in the number of prisoners across the country.

The report attributed the decline to tactics designed to slow COVID-19.

AstraZeneca insists that its COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective, even after counting other illnesses in its controversial U.S. study, the latest in an extraordinary public feud with American officials.

In a late night press release on Wednesday, the drugmaker said it recalculated data from that study and concluded that the vaccine is 76% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, instead of the 79% reported earlier in the week.

Just a day earlier, an independent panel that oversees the study accused AstraZeneca of selecting data to publicize the protection offered by its vaccine. The panel, in a harsh letter to the company and U.S. health leaders, said the company had omitted some COVID-19 cases that occurred in the study, a move that could undermine confidence in science.

Some experts said the new data provided by AstraZeneca was “reassuring” and that the information was probably strong enough for US regulators to authorize the vaccine.

Here are some recent stories related to COVID-19: