ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO GET VACCINATED

3:45PM TUESDAY

OVERVIEW: Kamala Harris Has COVID; 6 of 10 Americans Have Been Infected; BA.4 Variant Spreading Worldwide

Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, becoming the latest highest-ranking official in Washington to be infected and raising new concerns about President Biden’s potential exposure as the virus tears through his administration. (The New York Times)

Kamala Harris

Almost 6 in 10 Americans have signs of previous COVID-19 infection, showing the widespread reach of the virus, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The CDC study shows that the percentage of people testing positive for antibodies — an indication of previous COVID-19 infection — increased from about 34 percent in December to about 58 percent in February. (The Hill)

A new COVID-19 variant was found in three PCR tests taken at Ben-Gurion Airport from travelers returning to Israel, the Health Ministry has reported. The BA.4 variant has been spreading through South Africa, causing a rise in mortality. The three cases came from passengers returning from South Africa, Singapore and Italy. (The Jerusalem Post)

Figures released today by the CDC indicate that in the past eight weeks BA.2.12.1 has not only outcompeted BA.2 in terms of growth, but it has now become the dominant variant in the region made up of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The CDC data indicates that BA.12.2 now accounts for 58% of new cases in the region. In New York State, its share is much higher. (Deadline)

KANE COUNTY: 149 New Cases, 0 Deaths; Calm Before The Storm?

COVID-19 cases are up, but hospitalizations and deaths a low. The question now is whether new treatments, vaccination levels and herd immunity are enough to keep hospitalizations and deaths from rising on a curve that matches the new case counts.

Kane County recorded another 149 new COVID-19 cases today, but no new deaths, according to data posted on the Illinois Department of Public Health website.

The Kane County totals since the pandemic began are 128,092 COVID-19 cases and 1,126 deaths.

Kane County is averaging about 26 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population. About 34% of Kane County ICU beds are available.

STATE OF ILLINOIS: 2,509 New Cases, 3 Deaths 

The state of Illinois has been in the pattern of not reporting a lot of COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, largely because of the timing of information flow from the weekends.

That said, the state reported 2,509 new cases and three COVID-19 deaths today.

That bring the Illinois totals to 3,124,700 COVID-19 positive cases and 33,584 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began.

Statewide, an average of about 25% ICU beds are available. The state is averaging about 45 new COVID-19 hospitalizations each day.

Previous Post

State of Illinois COVID-19 Data

• Click here for the most recent IDPH COVID-19 news releases.
• Click this link for the coronavirus.illinois.gov web page.
• Click this link for state of Illinois news releases.
• Click this link to watch state of Illinois news conferences.
• Click this link for the state of Illinois vaccination locations page.
• Click this link for the COVID-19 modeling page.
• Click this link for the CDC’s Kane County data tracker page.
• Click this link for the IDPH’s Variants of Concern page.
• Click this link for the IDPH’s Youth And School Data page
• Click this link for the IDPH’s COVID-19 Hospital Resource Utilization page
• Click this link for the IDPH’s COVID-19 data page that includes a search by county.
• Click this link for the CDC’S Community Levels By County page
• Click this link for the IDPH’s Data Surveillance Page