Breakthrough COVID cases: 169 fully vaccinated dead, 644 hospitalized in Illinois
By FOX 32 Digital Staff
Published
Illinois on Wednesday reported more than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases, which is the most since May.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - More than 100 fully vaccinated people have died and 644 fully vaccinated people have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 in breakthrough cases, Illinois health officials said.
Since the beginning of this year, 169 people who were vaccinated against COVID-19 have died from the virus. That means that among all COVID-19 deaths, 2.44 percent of individuals who died were fully vaccinated.
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State health officials said a breakthrough case is defined as a person who tests positive for COVID-19 at least 14 days after being fully vaccinated and did not test positive for the virus in the previous 45 days.
Delta variant spreading twice as easily from person to person as previous strains making vaccinations even more important
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced today it is fully adopting updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) masking recommendations to protect against COVID-19 and the Delta variant.
CDC recommends that everyone, including fully vaccinated individuals, wear a mask in public indoor setting in areas with substantial and high transmission. CDC is also recommending universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.
“While data continues to show the effectiveness of the three COVID-19 vaccines currently authorized in the U.S., including against the Delta variant, we are still seeing the virus rapidly spread among the unvaccinated,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “Cases and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 both continue to increase, overwhelmingly
JOHNSON COUNTY, IL (WSIL) The school year is coming up and registration in our region is underway right now prompting one local district to set-up a one-stop-shop for their unvaccinated students and parents.
Vienna Schools teamed up with the Illinois Department of Public Health to offer vaccinations alongside registrations. We felt like with the parents and the students coming in just to have that one-stop shop would be an awesome thing to promote for them, says Vienna high school nurse Sherie Smith. That way when they came through they could just go ahead and get their vaccine and then three weeks later, they re going to be back here at the school to get that second shot.
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McLean County reported its biggest surge in new coronavirus case since mid-May on Wednesday with 130 new weekly cases.
The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) also announced one of its youngest COVID-related deaths to date: a woman in her 30s who was not associated with long-term care.
The health department also said it will resume daily COVID-19 updates on weekdays.
MCHD urges the public to follow the CDC’s new guidance that calls for fully vaccinated people to wear masks in indoor public settings in areas where there is significant or high coronavirus spread. McLean County meets the definition for “substantial” community spread, with a seven-day average of 62 new cases per 100,000 residents.
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Illinois State University is now requiring face coverings for people in indoor public spaces on campus such as classrooms and Bone Student Center (pictured here).
The CDC currently designates McLean County as having substantial transmission of the virus, based on increases in COVID-19 cases and emergency room visits from people with COVID-like illness.
ISU also said in a campus update that faculty, staff, and students can upload images of their vaccine cards to the Student Health Services website. That will constitute proof of vaccination. Those without such proof will have to test for the virus once per week.
ISU President Terri Goss Kinzy said being a responsible Redbird includes taking measures to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.