CHICAGO – The percentage of counties in the United States at a Medium or High COVID-19 Community Level is growing, driven by the highly transmissible omicron subvariants BA.4/BA.5, and Cook County remains at a High COVID-19 Level, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced today.

The number of new laboratory-confirmed COVID cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days across Cook County was 217 (a decrease from 255.9 last week), and the number of new weekly hospital admissions per 100,000 population was 12.7 (12.6 last week). The percentage of staffed inpatient beds in Cook County in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19 was 4.5 percent (4.1 percent last week).

The City’s COVID case rate per 100,000 population is 205 (190 last week), its COVID hospitalization rate per 100,000 population is 5.6 (up from 4.2 last week, but the same as it was two weeks ago), and the percentage of hospital beds occupied by patients with COVID-19 is 4.1 (4.2 last week, 4.1 percent two weeks ago).

"The highly contagious omicron subvariants BA.4/BA.5 are firmly rooted in our region, which is why we continue to see significant COVID-19 cases in Chicago. As always, it is heartening to see our hospitalization rate and serious illness and deaths continue to remain low because so many of our residents are vaccinated,” said CDPH Commissioner Allison Arwady, M.D. “As we continue to manage current case levels, I want to make sure everyone is up-to-date with vaccine and boosters to protect themselves against serious illness. And take precautions, such as masking up indoors, and holding social events outdoors when possible.”

Based on the latest data from CDC, Cook County levels are as follows.  

The CDC determines COVID-19 Community Levels as Low, Medium, or High, based on the number of new local COVID-19 cases, regional COVID-19 hospital admissions, and COVID-19 hospital capacity in the prior week. The Levels were developed to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest local COVID-19 data.

When the CDC updates its COVID-19 Community Levels national map each week, the City of Chicago and suburban Cook County data are combined into one weekly case metric for Cook County. Hospitalization data, in contrast, reflect a burden on the whole federally defined Health Service Area, which includes hospitals in Cook, Lake, DuPage, and McHenry counties.

CDPH also continues to track and report COVID-19 hospital burden specifically for Chicago hospitals every day on its dashboard and uses this local hospital data to make further mitigation decisions. Visit chi.gov/coviddash for the Chicago COVID-19 daily data dashboard. 

COVID-19 Community Levels in the U.S. by County

Nationwide, nearly 80 percent of United States counties are at either the Medium or High Level. Only eight of Illinois’ 102 counties are at a Low COVID-19 Level (same as last week), with the rest Medium or High. Travelers should review CDPH’s travel guidance and check the CDC map to know whether areas they are visiting are Low, Medium, or High risk for COVID-19 and take proper precautions.

For additional COVID-19 news, see CDPH’s weekly update or visit Chicago.gov/COVID.

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