Unfortunately, our cases locally have escalated substantially. You can see all updated numbers on our website. https://vchd.org/covid-19/<https://vchd.org/covid-19/> At this point, the Omicron Variant has not been found in Illinois, but it is more than likely we will see it eventually. There are many unknowns right now about the Omicron variant and the effects it will have on the population. Unfortunately, it is a wait and see to find out if the vaccines are effective and what level of severity we will see in illness. What we can do at this point is continue to encourage masking, vaccination, social distancing, and making good decisions. Please remember that everyone over the age of 18 is encouraged to get a COVID-19 booster dose if they have already been fully vaccinated. Individuals ages 5 and up can now be vaccinated. Vaccinations questions, safety information, etc. can be found on the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html<https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html> Attachments: IDPH weekly update Our region hit 8% positivity rate yesterday, and we are over 10% for Vermilion County. This is even with a huge increase in testing, which should technically give you a lower rate unless there is a huge surge or outbreak…which is what we have. Our community transmission rate is 615.12 new cases / 100,000 over the last 7 days (it was 537.24 yesterday). A reminder that anything over 100 is high. In a little over a week, we have doubled our Vermilion County COVID19 hospitalizations as has the entire region. There are only 12 ICU beds open in the entire region 6. With the influx of not only COVID19 cases, but Influenza A, the hospitals are getting hit hard again. We have almost tripled the number of COVID19 hospitalizations in non-ICU status since the beginning of last week and doubled the number of COVID19 positive cases in the ICU and almost tripled the number on vents. Here is a chart for Just Vermilion County Hospitalizations [cid:image003.png@01D7E842.7C5E9D60] Update on this week’s reported cases (11/29 – 12/3) We reported 660 new cases this week (we have almost 300 today that we are currently trying to get though to give you an idea of how big of a surge we are having) and released 691. We have 35 people hospitalized and reported 9 additional deaths. Total number of deaths stands at 214. Of the 691 new cases, 35 were vaccinated, 5 were considered to be breakthrough cases (vaccinated and either were hospitalized or died), and 3 reinfections. Age Breakdowns of new reported cases: Under 20: 231 Cases 20-49: 272 cases Over 50: 188 Some of our hardest hit zip codes with new cases in the last 10 days are as follows (over 2% of the entire population in that zip code): 61810 Allerton 61811 Alvin 61814 Bismarck 60960 Rankin Others that were close, but not as high (between 1.5%-1.9% of the entire population in that zip code over the last 10 days) 60942 - Hoopeston 60963 - Rossville 61841 - Fairmount 61858 - Oakwood 61870 – Ridge Farm 61876 - Sidell 61883 – Westville With the influx of cases, our contact tracers are quite busy and some labs are taking longer to get results submitted. Please be patient as we are extremely backed up. Vaccination Updates Please go to our website for the latest Vaccination Opportunities: www.vchd.org<http://www.vchd.org>. You can also go to IEMA/IDPH’s new Vaccine Clinic Pop Up site to see where a clinic is near you: Community Partner Vaccination Clinics<https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiNjYzYWY1NWQtYmEwYy00NGVhLWE2YjgtMmFlNTBlYjMwMjc1IiwidCI6ImNiNTI5ZDExLWU2Y2MtNDdiYy1hMjFmLWViYzA1OTYyNzA0NyIsImMiOjF9&pageName=ReportSection> IDPH has us at a lower rate for vaccinations because they do not receive Federal Numbers, like VA, some pharmacy programs, etc. Here is what the CDC has for our vaccination rates.
