Health Departments Recommend Additional Precautions Including Masking Indoors
One day after announcing mandatory mask use in all Lake County buildings effective August 2, 2021, Lake County officials announced that Lake County is experiencing ”substantial” community transmission per the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Areas of substantial transmission are considered by the CDC to be those with 50 to 99 cases per 100,000 people over a 7-day period. Areas of high transmission are considered to be those with more than 100 cases per 100,000 people over a 7-day period. Lake County recorded 387 new cases with a positivity rate of 3.61% The Lake County new-case rate grew to 55.56 per 100,000 residents, which represents a 61% increase in the last week.
The CDC recently released guidance advising that individuals wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission regardless of vaccination status. Additionally, the CDC is also recommending universal masking regardless of vaccination status for all individuals in K-12 schools.
“We strongly recommend that everyone follow CDC recommendations and take necessary precautions to stay protected against COVID-19 and its variants. A combination of vaccinations and prevention strategies is our best chance to end the COVID-19 pandemic.”
— said Dr. Sana Ahmed, Medical Epidemiologist at the Lake County Health Department
More than 746,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Lake County residents, and over 51% are fully vaccinated. Additionally, 85% of Lake County residents ages 65 and above have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, and 80% are fully vaccinated.
“Vaccination is our best path to ending the COVID-19 pandemic; however, until we reach a higher vaccination rate, we must also follow necessary mitigation practices,” said Mark Pfister, Executive Director at the Lake County Health Department. “Wearing a mask while in public indoor settings will help keep you and those you love safe.”
The Delta variant of COVID-19 is implicated in the recent outbreak.
“We were aware of the possibility that we would tip the metric and find ourselves at the substantial level since our neighboring counties’ level of transmission were at the substantial level.”
— Kane County Health Department Interim Executive Director Kathy Fosser
Kane County’s case rate increased to 53.91 per 100,000 residents, a 67% increase in a week, according to CDC data. Kane County recorded 287 new cases in the last seven days, with a positive-test rate of 4.88%. No deaths have been recorded.
As of the end of July 2021, the …
Cook County case rate is about 52 cases per 100,000
DuPage County case rate is about 59 cases per 100,000
McHenry County case rate is about 58 cases per 100,000, and the
Will County case rate is about 73 cases per 100,000.
The City of Chicago recorded an average of 190 cases per day over the past week, which represents a 63% increase compared to the previous week. The spike was announced as an estimated 400,000 people with proof of COVID-19 vaccination arrived at Grant Park for Lollapalooza, and as the CDC announced an MMWR report that 74% of COVID-19 infections occurred amount vaccinated people in a town associated with large public gatherings in Barnstable County, Massachusetts.
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