Cook County could reinstate a series of COVID-19 restrictions aimed at reducing increasing cases as the county begins to see a third increase in coronavirus, health officials said Saturday.
Both the city of Chicago and Cook County have recently seen more than 600 new cases a day, according to Dr. Rachel Rubin, a senior medical officer and co-director of Cook County’s public health department.
A couple of weeks ago, Rubin said, about 250 cases were reported each day. On Saturday, Illinois recorded 2,839 new cases and 13 deaths, as the positivity rate rose from 4.1 to 4.3%.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, a total of 145,315 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in a recent 24-hour period. In all, a total of 6,188,607 doses have been administered statewide.
Health officials in the city of Chicago have expressed concern about a “quantum leap” in coronavirus cases, saying a failure to reduce those gains could lead to some restrictions being reinstated after they were relaxed in early d ‘this year.
According to IDPH data, the city of Chicago has seen its seven-day positivity rate increase from 3.2% from March 19 to 4.5% from March 28, a rapid increase that is alarming some public health experts.
While no decision has been made on restoring restrictions in Cook County, officials say the change could come next week and the main focus may be on covered activities.
“The data has shown that they are not necessarily outdoor activities, but indoor, so these are the things we need to evaluate and analyze,” Rubin said.
As is the case in Chicago, Rubin said the cases are intensifying in the younger population of Cook County, especially the 20- and 30-year-olds, as this age group is not largely vaccinated. .
Even with the spread of the coronavirus vaccine, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, are urging residents, especially younger ones, to continue adhering. se to social distancing protocols and to wear their masks in public, saying the end of the pandemic could be in sight if residents remain vigilant.
“The actions you take now will impact what we can all do in the future,” Lightfoot said earlier in the week. “We don’t want to be forced to take a step back, or worse, to close these things because we haven’t done what is necessary now to remain diligent. COVID-19 is still here, it still kills people in our city every day. so much so, we have to stay diligent. “