Chicago-Area Counties Again Have 'High' COVID Transmission: CDC

ACROSS ILLINOIS — Most Chicago-area counties have again reached a "high" transmission level for COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released its latest community level COVID-19 transmission rates for the last week, which look at the number of new cases in each county across the U.S. as well as hospitalization rates. This week, McHenry, Cook and Will counties were bumped into the high bracket, joining Lake and DuPage, which were already listed at that level last week, according to CDC data.

Meanwhile, Kane and Kendall counties are at a medium level of transmission.

With the majority of counties in Illinois at an elavated level for transmission, public health officials are again urging residents to get vaccinated. While new subvariants, including BA.4 and BA.5, have been able to evade vaccines and immunity, health officials say the vaccine and booster shots could prevent serious illness.

"We urge everyone to protect themselves by making sure they are up-to-date with vaccines and booster shots. This is especially important for people who are vulnerable to serious medical outcomes," Amaal Tokars, Illinois Department of Public Health acting director, said in a news release last week.

The CDC also recommends everyone who lives in a high transmission area wear a mask indoors in public and to get tested for COVID-19 if they have any symptoms.

Here are more details on what the public health guidelines are for those living in a high transmission area:

• regardless of vaccination status, including in K-12 schools and other indoor community settings
• If you are immunocompromised or high risk for severe disease:
  • Wear a mask or respirator that provides you with greater protection
  • Consider avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public where you could be exposed
  • Talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to take other precautions
  • Have a plan for rapid testing if needed (having home tests or access to testing)
  • If you test positive: Talk to your healthcare provider about whether you are a candidate for treatments like oral antivirals and monoclonal antibodies
• If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for severe disease:
  • consider self-testing to detect infection before contact
  • consider wearing a mask when indoors with them
• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters
• Maintain improved ventilation throughout indoor spaces when possible
• Follow CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine, including getting tested if you are exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms of COVID-19

For those living in communities listed at a medium risk for transmission, the CDC recommends:

• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
• Get tested if you have symptoms
• Wear a mask if you have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19.
• Wear a mask on public transportation
• You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider wearing a mask indoors in public and taking additional precautions

Across the U.S., 35 percent of counties are listed in the high transmission bracket, which is a 15 percent increase over last week. Meanwhile, 40 percent of the nation's counties are listed in the medium level and 25 percent are at low levels of transmission.

Over the past week in Illinois, 34,968 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the state, and that number is likely much higher as more people are testing for COVID with at-home tests. There's been 74 COVID deaths and more than 215 new hospitalizations, according to CDC data.

Nearly 70 percent of residents in Illinois over the age of 5 years old are fully vaccinated against the virus.

You can take a closer look at how other counties rank on the CDC website and get more information on infection rates in your county. The map below shows the latest transmission levels, with orange indicating high transmission levels, yellow showing medium levels of transmission and green showing areas of low transmission.

BA.4, BA.5 Wave Hits Illinois

Health officials have been closely watching new subvariants of omicron, including BA.4 and BA.5, which now account for the majority of COVID infections across the U.S. A new subvariant, B.275, has been detected in the U.S. in recent weeks, originating in India.

All the variants seem equipped to get around vaccines and sicken those who've previously been infected, public health officials say. The severity of illness is still being monitored.

On Tuesday, Allison Arwady, public health commissioner for the Chicago Department of Public Health, said the current BA.4 and BA.5 wave is not causing huge concern. She added the "variants of concern" are being monitored and said a "variant of high consequence" has not yet been identified, which would lead public health officials to take swift actions.

Meanwhile, she said, "we are currently doing OK by and large" amid the current BA.4/BA.5 wave.

"Variants continue to worry people, and they should worry people," said Arwady during a weekly Facebook live broadcast. "Every time we have a new variant that emerges, it's the part that is the least controlled with COVID. If the COVID virus didn't mutate at all from here on out, I would have no questions about what we do to sort of get us out of COVID.

The problem is, because it keeps mutating, because we keep seeing new variants — every time that happens in some way the virus is changing to be more contagious, which is most of what we've seen, but there's the potential for it to become, you know, more serious. There's the potential for it to become less serious. But you just don't know for sure. And that uncertainty is part of what makes it very hard to fully be able to predict the future."

Arwady also talked about what those who contract COVID should first do once they learn of their diagnosis, urging them to stay home if they are sick, put a mask on while around others and to let their doctor know. For those at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill, their doctor could provide additional treatments to lower that risk.

She added that avoiding testing for COVID-19 if you've been a close contact or are showing symptoms is the last thing people should do. She said employers will want to know, and other close contacts should also be privy to that knowledge to slow the spread.

"If you are up to date on your vaccines, it's very unlikely you will get seriously ill," said Arwady, as public health officials also urge people who can to get their initial shots as well as their booster shots.

Patch Survey: Share Your Thoughts On Masking

Last July, amid a COVID surge, we asked readers if they'd begin wearing masks again if cases continued to rise. At the time, just under 30 percent of readers who responded said they "always or nearly always" wear a mask indoors in public, while around 12 percent said they do so less than half the time, 7 percent said they do so more than half the time, and a little under 5 percent say they wear one about half the time.

A lot has changed since then.

According to the CDC, most residents in the Chicago area should now be wearing masks, but are they? Let us know your thoughts on masking in our survey below.