The Illinois Department of Public Health reported on Thursday that the first cases of COVID variant B.1.351 have been confirmed in the state, in a resident of Rock Island. The state is currently reporting 22 cases of variant B in the UK 1.1.7.
Both variants appear to be spreading faster, health officials said, and could lead to more cases of the virus or even another wave. They reminded the audience of the urgent need to wear a face mask, stay socially distant, limit personal gatherings outside the household of any size, and get vaccinated when it’s your turn.
Meanwhile, health officials in Illinois reported 2,825 new COVID-19 cases and 102 deaths on Thursday.
The total number of cases in Illinois now stands at 1,155,833, with a total of 19,841 deaths, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the past 24 hours, laboratories reported 96,525 specimens for a total of 16,918,910.
How much protection does the COVID-19 vaccine provide? How vaccinated people should approach to see others
As of Wednesday night, there were 1,954 patients in Illinois who were in the hospital with COVID-19. Of these, 448 patients were in the ICU and 227 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilator.
The seven-day statewide preliminary test positivity from February 4-10 is 3.9%.
RELATED: Illinois COVID Vaccine Map Shows How Many Residents Have Been Vaccinated By County
A total of 1,929,850 vaccine doses have been delivered to healthcare providers in Illinois, including Chicago, with an additional 456,100 doses assigned to federal government partners for long-term care facilities, bringing the total number delivered in Illinois to 2,385,950.
RELATED: Illinois Coronavirus Testing: Where to Get Tested for COVID-19 in Illinois, Chicago
The IDPH says vaccine distribution numbers are reported in real time, and vaccine delivery lags by as much as 72 hours.
IDPH reports that a total of 1,549,108 vaccine doses have been administered, including 226,974 in long-term facilities. The seven-day rolling average of the vaccines administered is 56,094.
Gov. Pritzker visits Elgin vaccination site
Governor JB Pritzker gave an update on vaccination efforts at the Elgin Mental Health Center in Elgin on Thursday morning.
The Department of Human Services vaccination site in Elgin is home to many patients and has dozens of staff. Thursday morning, 50 patients and staff received their second dose of the COVID 19 vaccine.
With the vaccine still scarce, Governor Pritzker says we are still one of the leading states when it comes to vaccinations.
“It is because of these all-in-hand efforts that Illinois is setting new records in the rollout of our vaccines,” said Pritzker. “ For the past week, Illinois was the number one state in the top ten most populous states in the nation in terms of vaccinations per capita and although Illinois is the sixth largest state in the country, we now have the fifth largest most vaccinations. of the states, “
The governor also mentioned an increase in the supply that will soon come from the federal government, but there is still a huge shortage of vaccines.
On Wednesday, Pritzker announced that Illinois is making plans to qualify Phase 1B on Feb. 25 for people with co-morbidities and underlying conditions, as defined by the CDC. In addition, Illinois will also prioritize individuals with disabilities.
However, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle said in a statement on Thursday that the city and county would not expand eligibility for Phase 1B.
“If you did that in Chicago and Cook County, that would add over a million extra people to 1 billion, and the result would be that those who are currently eligible, including seniors, key frontline workers and those in our toughest through COVID burdened communities, an equal It’s harder to get a vaccine, ”Lightfoot and Preckwinkle said in a statement.
The risk categories covered by the extension are:
-Cancer
-Chronic kidney disease
-COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
-Diabetes
-Heart disease
Immunocompromised condition due to solid organ transplant
-Obesity
-Pregnancy
-Lung disease
-Sickle cell disease
This expansion could nearly double the number of people currently eligible for the vaccine at a time when supply is low, but the governor expressed optimism that federal government supplies will increase significantly in the coming weeks.
“My government will work with all local public health departments in the coming weeks to integrate these higher-risk individuals into their community vaccination plans,” Pritzker said.
The deaths reported Thursday include:
– Clay County: 1 woman in her 80’s
– Clinton County: 1 woman in her 80’s
– Coles County: 1 man 1960s
– Cook County: 1 man in the 30s, 1 woman in the 40s, 1 man in the 40s, 1 woman in the 50s, 4 men in the 50s, 6 women in the 60s, 6 men in the 60s, 7 women in the 70s, 7 men in the 70s, 7 women in the 80s, 7 men in the 80s, 4 women in the 90s, 2 males in the 90s
– DeKalb County: 1 90s female
– DuPage County: 1 woman in their 40s, 3 men in the 70s, 1 woman in the 80s, 1 man in the 90s
– Greene County: 1 female 50’s
– Grundy County: 1 male 1960s
Jefferson County: 1 man in his 80s
– Kane County: 1 man in 60, 1 man in 70, 1 woman in 90
– Knox County: 1 female ’80s
– Lake County: 1 man out of 50
– Lawrence County: 1 man 1960s
– Livingston County: 1 man in his 80s
– Logan County: 1 90s female
– Marion County: 1 man from the 1970s
– McLean County: 1 male 1960s
– Monroe County: 1 man in the 70’s, 1 woman in the 90’s
– Moultrie County: 1 male 70s
– Randolph County: 1 man in his 70s
– Sangamon County: 1 female 70’s
– St. Clair County: 1 female 50er, 1 female 90er
– Stephenson County: 1 man out of 80
– Tazewell County: 1 woman in the 40’s, 1 woman in the 50’s, 1 man in the 70’s, 1 woman in the 90’s
– Vermilion County: 1 male 70s
– Washington County: 1 female 90’s
– Whiteside County: 1 man in the 60’s, 1 man in the 90
– Will County: 1 man 50er, 1 man 60er, 3 man 70er, 1 woman 80er, 2 woman 90er
– Winnebago County: 1 90’s female
Copyright © 2021 WLS-TV. All rights reserved.