Lake County Joins Substantial Risk Category As COVID Cases Rise

LIBERTYVILLE, IL — Lake County health officials are advising that residents should again wear masks in indoor settings regardless of their vaccination status after the county joined other regions of suburban Chicago to be categorized as having “substantial” risk for the coronavirus over the weekend.

Lake County joined that group on Saturday after health officials reported that the county is now reporting between 50-99 new cases of the coronavirus per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period. As of Friday, the county was just below the substantial threshold, but that changed a day later when health officials announced the increase in new local cases. As of Friday, Lake County was averaging 7.1 new cases of the coronavirus per day.

As of Tuesday, every county in the greater Chicago area ranks in the substantial category with the exception of Kankakee County, which remains at the moderate level.

The announcement came four days after the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance regarding masks due to an increase in COVID-19 cases around the country. Many of the new cases are associated with the delta variant, which health officials said is much more contagious that other variants of the coronavirus.

The CDC said because of the spike in cases, people should wear masks indoors regardless of if they have been fully vaccinated.

“We strongly recommend that everyone follow CDC recommendations and take necessary precautions to stay protected against COVID-19 and its variants,” Dr. Sana Ahmed, medical epidemiologist at the Lake County Health Department said in a news release issued over the weekend. “A combination of vaccinations and prevention strategies is our best chance to end the COVID-19 pandemic.”

County health officials report that more than 746,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccines have been administered to Lake County residents. More than 51 percent of local residents have been vaccinated as of last week among residents ages 65 and older, 85 percent of those residents have received at least one dose of the vaccines while 80 percent are fully vaccinated.

“Vaccination is our best path to ending the COVID-19 pandemic; however, until we reach a higher vaccination rate, we must also follow necessary mitigation practices,” Mark Pfister, executive director at the Lake County Health Department said in the release. “Wearing a mask while in public indoor settings will help keep you and those you love safe.”