Over 230 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Lake and McHenry counties as the Illinois Department of Public Health reported nearly 60,000 new COVID-19 cases in the past week in the state.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) on Friday reported 59,312 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, including an increase of 316 deaths since December 10.
In the past week, over 1.2 million COVID-19 tests have been performed in the state.
IDPH said that 3,783 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19 as of Thursday, which is the highest number since January.
Of those, 787 patients were in the ICU and 353 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
In Region 9, which includes Lake County and McHenry County, 238 people with COVID were in the hospital, state data shows.
ICU bed availability was at 12% on Thursday, below the 20% threshold set by IDPH.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday recommended that individuals receive the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine over Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine.
The recommendation came after advisers with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices cited the rare blood clotting issue in the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
“ACIP reaffirmed that receiving any vaccine is better than being unvaccinated,” the IDPH said. “Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic.”
More than 70% of residents in Illinois have received at least one dose of the vaccine and more than 63% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.