CHICAGO, Ill. — The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting an uptick of COVID-19 cases.
State Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra says there were over 13,000 new cases confirmed this past week, which doesn’t include people who tested positive with at-home kits.
Vohra says one of the best ways residents can protect themselves is to get the latest COVID booster, which covers the Omicron variants currently circulating.
“So, we would encourage them now, especially with COVID-19 community levels still generally low, but we saw the uptick of it this week compared to last. Now is the best time to get fully immunized and protected from both COVID-19 and the flu,” Vohra says.
Additionally, 38 Illinois counties are at an elevated risk for transmission of the virus, up from 26 last week, according to Vohra.
Peoria and Tazewell Counties are currently at medium risk for transmission of COVID-19, Woodford County remains at low risk.
“At this point, we’re very lucky, because the variant that we most see in our community is BA-4 and BA-5 particularly, and those are Omicron variants that are covered by this bivalent booster vaccine,” Vohra says.
IDPH urges everyone to make sure they are up to date on their vaccines before the holidays. That includes COVID and flu shots, which can be given at the same time.
At last count, there were more than 1,000 people in Illinois hospitals with COVID.
For more information from the Illinois Department of Public Health, click HERE.
