IDPH ‘fully aligns’ with stricter CDC mask guidance
Jerry Nowicki
Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD – The state will have new COVID-19 guidance on face coverings after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance Tuesday to reflect that even individuals vaccinated against COVID-19 should wear masks while indoors in areas of the country where the virus is surging.
CDC officials also recommended all teachers, staff, students and visitors in schools, regardless of vaccination status, should wear masks indoors as well, according to news reports covering an afternoon briefing by the federal agency. As of Tuesday afternoon, the full guidance had not been posted online.
Belleville News-Democrat A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic hosted by The East Side Health District. They have been holding vaccine clinics at the Clyde C. Jordan Senior Citizens Center in East St. Louis as well as other locations.
Editor’s note: This story was originally published by the
Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.
New COVID-19
As of Wednesday, the number of available intensive care beds in southwest Illinois hospitals dipped to just 20% of total capacity, a level not seen since early February.
The region’s testing positivity rate of 9.1%, meanwhile, is the highest it’s been since Jan. 15. It’s also the highest new infection rate in the state, according to data tracked by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Kristen Thometz | July 28, 2021 4:43 pm
(WTTW News)
The number of new COVID-19 infections has been steadily increasing over the past few weeks and on Wednesday surpassed 2,000 for the first time in a 24-hour period since early May, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data.
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The 2,082 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus reported Wednesday mark the highest single-day total since May 7, when the state reported 3,321 cases.
The seven-day statewide positivity rate is now 4%, up from 1.9% for the week of July 9-15, according to IDPH data.
“It’s of great concern to me that we have a rise in cases, particularly the delta variant, which tends to move much faster than previous variants,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference Wednesday morning.
As DuPage, McHenry reach substantial risk level, mask alert called inevitable in suburbs Elgin 12-year-old Geneva Dadabo shows off her I Got Mine sticker, which she placed over her bandage after she got her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin more than two months ago. Rick West | Staff Photographer, May 13
Updated 7/28/2021 7:01 PM
Medical experts say it s only a matter of time before suburban COVID-19 transmission rises to the level at which face coverings are advised in all public indoor locations.
DuPage and McHenry counties joined Will County Wednesday with enough disease spread to trigger the universal indoor mask-wearing advice set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the day before. But it s inevitable that will happen in the rest of the suburbs and Chicago, one doctor says.
WGLT Jeremy DeHaai center, was the only Unit 5 school board member to vote against a universal masking requirement to begin the school year during the board s meeting Wednesday night.
The Unit 5 school board voted 6-1 Wednesday evening to require all students, teachers, and other staff to wear masks in schools at the start of the year to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Superintendent Kristen Weikle said the district will reassess the requirement about Sept. 21, which is two weeks after students return from the Labor Day break.
That date, she said, is intentional. Throughout the pandemic, holidays have provided a greater chance for spikes in cases of COVID-19 as families travel and socialize outside their usual patterns.