COVID-19 hospitalizations decline, risk levels drop in some counties

State health officials reported Friday there are 37 fewer people hospitalized with COVID-19 than a week ago, a 2.5% decline during that time.

Of those hospitalized, 152 are in ICU beds, 29 fewer than a week ago, according to Illinois Department of Public Health records.

Earlier in the week, there were 201 patients in intensive care. It's the first time more than 200 COVID-19 patients required ICU beds since late February.

IDPH officials also reported 56 more COVID-19 deaths over the past week along with 25,084 new cases of the respiratory disease.

That brings the state's death toll from the virus to 34,595, while 3,645,961 infections have been reported since the outset of the pandemic.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting 69.5% of the state's 12.8 million residents received the initial vaccination course. Of those fully vaccinated, 54.6% received a booster dose. The CDC is also reporting that among those eligible for a second booster shot, 36.2% have done so.

CDC records also show more than 73% of residents in Cook, DuPage and Lake counties are fully vaccinated. In Kane and McHenry counties, 68% of the residents are fully vaccinated, while 68.7% of Will County residents have been fully vaccinated.

Both IDPH and CDC are still not reporting vaccination figures for children under the age of 5, but officials have said uptake among that age group has been low since the shots became available earlier this summer.

The CDC's community risk level map lists Cook, DuPage, McHenry and Will counties at medium, while Kane and Lake counties are listed at high risk, meaning new case rates and hospitalizations are elevated in those counties.