 IDPH
Director Dr. Sameer Vohra also announced that SIU Medicine in
partnership with IDPH is offering a new telehealth test to treat
service for COVID-19. The service is aimed at providing faster and
easier access to treatment for Illinoisans who contract COVID-19.
Those who test positive are encouraged to call 217-545-5100 from 7
a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on
Saturdays and Sundays to schedule a telehealth appointment to
determine if medical treatment is recommended. Appointments will be
offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.
IDPH has recorded a total of 4,062,200 cases and 36,334 deaths, in
102 counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic. The
department is reporting 11,248 new confirmed and probable cases of
COVID-19 in Illinois in the week ending February 19, and 37 deaths.
“We are happy to report that COVID-19 community levels continue to
remain stable this week,” Director Vohra said. “However, we know
that the virus is still circulating with the potential to cause
serious illness, especially to those most at-risk. It is critical
for those individuals to have quick and easy access to medical
providers to determine if COVID-19 treatment is recommended. We are
grateful to offer this new telehealth test to treat service to help
protect our residents across Illinois.”
Options for obtaining tests and treatments can
also be found at the following test to treat site or by contacting
your provider for treatment options, within 5 days of feeling ill.
IDPH is helping Illinoisans stay prepared for any future surge of
COVID-19 cases by offering 1 million free COVID-19 rapid antigen
tests to Illinois residents in all zip codes outside the City of
Chicago through a partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation’s
public charity, RF Catalytic Capital and its Project ACT (Access
COVID Tests) program.
Through Project ACT, IDPH is distributing up to
one million at-home antigen tests to 200,000 Illinois households.
You can request one package of five tests on a
first-come-first-serve basis at the Project ACT website. The tests
will be delivered to the home address.
Free or low cost COVID-19 testing locations are also available
throughout the state, including in Chicago, and can be found on the
IDPH website’s testing locator page.
The CDC authorized two new bivalent booster vaccines on September 1
that include an mRNA component of the original strain to provide an
immune response that is broadly protective against COVID-19 and an
added mRNA component in common between the omicron variant BA.4 and
BA.5 lineages to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused
by the omicron variant.
Initially, the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent,
was authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18
years of age and older and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine,
Bivalent, was authorized for use as a single booster dose in
individuals 12 years of age and older. On October 12, the CDC
authorized the updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech for
children ages 5 through 11 years, and from Moderna for children and
adolescents ages 6 through 17 years.
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On December 9, the CDC expanded its authorization for
bivalent boosters to include children aged 6 months to 5 years.
Children ages 6 months through 5 years who previously completed a
Moderna primary series can now receive a Moderna bivalent booster 2
months after their final primary series dose. Children ages 6 months
through 4 years who are completing a Pfizer primary series will
receive a Pfizer bivalent vaccine as their third primary dose.
The updated boosters are available at pharmacies, hospitals, and
other healthcare providers. The best way to locate a vaccine
provider near you is to visit www.vaccines.gov and search for
bivalent booster availability.
As of last night, 959 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in
the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 108 patients were in the ICU
and 41 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The preliminary
seven-day statewide case rate is 88 COVID-19 cases per 100,000
Illinoisans.
In counties at the Medium Community Level, persons who are elderly
or immunocompromised (at risk of severe outcomes) are advised to
wear a mask in indoor public places. They should also get up to date
on COVID-19 vaccines or get their bivalent booster, if eligible.
IDPH has been supporting pharmacies and healthcare providers in
efforts to increase their inventories of the various FDA-authorized
treatments. There are over 1,200 treatment locations in Illinois -
including all the major retail pharmacies. More than 96.7% of the
state’s population is within a 10-mile radius of one of these
locations.
A total of 26,034,756 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as
of today. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered
daily is 3,937 doses, including the bivalent booster and first
doses. Since February 17, 27,556 vaccine doses were reported
administered in Illinois. Of Illinois’ total population, more than
79% have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, more than 71%
have completed their primary series of COVID-19 vaccines, and more
than 19% have received the bivalent booster dose, according to data
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Data indicates that the risk of hospitalization and
severe outcomes from COVID-19 is much higher for unvaccinated people
than for those who are up to date on their vaccinations. All data
are provisional and are subject to change. Additional information
and COVID-19 data can be found at https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19.html.
Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic. To find a COVID-19
vaccination location near you, go to www.vaccines.gov. The federal
government has established a new website that provides an
all-purpose toolkit with information on how to obtain masks,
treatment, vaccines and testing resources for all areas of the
country at: https://www.covid.gov/.
[Illinois Office of Communication and
Information] |
