Illinois health officials monitoring uptick in COVID-19 cases
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported rising COVID-19 activity Friday although the number of patients in hospital remains at low levels compared to pandemic highs.
Meanwhile, experts anticipate a new vaccine designed to combat the highly infectious “Kraken” strain of the virus, XBB.1.5, could be available later this fall.
The agency “is closely monitoring COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths, emerging variants, and a broad range of respiratory illnesses including flu and RSV” as fall approaches, IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said.
“We are fortunate the vast majority of Illinoisans have received immunity from a COVID-19 vaccine or previous infection that protects them,” Vohra said in a statement. But the virus still poses a risk for seniors and people with serious medical conditions, he added.
The latest U.S. Centers for Disease Control data shows that weekly COVID-19 hospital admissions as of Aug. 12 grew by 21.6% compared to the week ending Aug. 5.
In Illinois, weekly patient admissions came to 341 as of Aug. 12, a 12.9% increase from the prior week.
At the height of the omicron surge in early 2022, statewide patient numbers averaged in the 6,700 range.
Edward Hospital expert Dr. Jonathan Pinsky said it was point of celebration when no COVID-19 patients had to be admitted on two separate weeks earlier in the summer.
But the medical staff was treating 14 COVID-19 patients the first week in August. Last week, the tally reached 18, he noted.
As to why, “there's no clear patterns. I'm aware there appears to be more cases from the south, especially the state of Florida. So some of it is travel-related, but a lot is (from) here locally,” said Pinsky, medical director of infection control and prevention at Edward.
Some cases have involved nursing homes, he noted.
On a positive note, “there's a new vaccine coming out. It's anticipated sometime in September or possibly October that will target the XBB variant,” Pinsky said.
The IDPH partners with universities to sample wastewater for the presence of the virus at 79 locations.
Tests of wastewater from treatment plants across the state show concentrations of the virus spiking in August. For example, samples from a Naperville surveillance site showed recent traces of COVID-19 were more than six times the levels measured in early July.