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* The January high for hospitalizations was 7,380 on January 12th. That number dropped to 6,695 yesterday, a 9.3 percent decrease. Here’s what it looks like…
That puts the 7-day rolling average decrease at 1.04 percent. The 14-day rolling average decrease is 0.15 percent.
* Keep in mind that Cook County is 65 percent white and 24 percent Black. WBEZ…
Since Dec. 7, 2021, the date when the state’s first omicron case was found in Chicago, the city’s Black residents are dying at rates four times higher than Asians, three times higher than Latinos and nearly two times higher than white residents, according to WBEZ’s analysis. A total of 97 Black Chicagoans died of COVID-19 during the seven-day period ending Jan. 9, 2022 — more than at any point since May 11, 2020.
Black Chicagoans aren’t the only demographic that has been particularly vulnerable since the arrival of omicron. Older suburban Cook County residents have also seen their seven-day COVID-19 death totals reach levels not witnessed in more than a year. According to WBEZ’s analysis, a total of 181 suburban Cook County residents 60 years and older died from COVID-19 during the week ending Jan. 9, 2022. That’s the highest seven-day total for that group since Dec. 24, 2020.
Throughout the pandemic in suburban Cook County, older white residents have died at far higher rates than any other group. White residents who are 60 years and older account for just 6.4% of the total population in suburban Cook County, but they make up 53.7% of all COVID-19 deaths among Cook County residents outside Chicago during the pandemic, according to WBEZ’s analysis.
Wow.
* Sigh…
Republican Covid Policy: Let It Rip pic.twitter.com/s5RLRBtGZV
— Rachel Bitecofer 📈🔭🍌 (@RachelBitecofer) January 18, 2022
* AP…
The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, but COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing and modelers forecast 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave subsides in mid-March.
The seven-day rolling average for daily new COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has been trending upward since mid-November, reaching nearly 1,700 on Jan. 17 — still below the peak of 3,300 in January 2021. COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents started rising slightly two weeks ago, although still at a rate 10 times less than last year before most residents were vaccinated.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker announced today the federal government has granted the state’s request for medical staffing assistance for UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital. Under the agreement, a 26-person National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) team, including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, paramedics, and other specialists have been deployed to support UChicago Medicine Ingalls doctors and nurses as they treat COVID-19 patients and other patients in Harvey. This federal surge team will be available for 14-days to help reduce the strain on the region’s hospitals.
* More…
* Henry County’s COVID cases up 10.4%; Illinois cases plummet 11%: Across Illinois, cases fell in 19 counties, with the best declines in Cook County, with 69,479 cases from 95,907 a week earlier; in Will County, with 9,959 cases from 12,450; and in DuPage County, with 14,715 cases from 17,063.
* Cook County brings back 3 mass vaccination sites amid appointment shortage
* You Can Order Free COVID Tests From the Government Later This Week. Here’s How
* Omicron, Flu, Allergies: How Can You Tell the Difference in Symptoms?
* The Silent, Vaccinated, Impatient Majority
* People Are Hiding That Their Unvaccinated Loved Ones Died of COVID: With the arrival of vaccines, compassion for COVID deaths began to dry up, sometimes replaced by scorn.
* Why Omicron Is More Likely to Kill Americans: Just 63 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, 37 percent are boosted. That leaves 122 million people with, at best, fading natural immunity to COVID. It should come as no surprise that Omicron is tearing through this large, mostly unprotected group.
* Covid pandemic ‘nowhere near over’, new variants likely to emerge: WHO chief: “In some countries, cases seem to have peaked, which gives hope that the worst of this latest wave is done with, but no country is out of the woods yet. I remain particularly concerned about many countries that have low vaccination rates, as people are many times more at risk of severe illness and death if they’re unvaccinated,” said the WHO chief.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 12:18 pm
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CDC’s forecasts (that “do not reliably predict rapid changes in the trends of reported cases, hospitalizations, and deaths”) now say almost 3,000 deaths a day in a few weeks. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/forecasting/forecasting-us.html
The Illinois projections show maybe 100/day.
Comment by Paying Attention Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 1:14 pm
that was a great Atlantic column about the silent vaccinated majority. its past time for the US to impose significant inconvenience on the unvaccinated. their lives should be disrupted until they get the jab period. this whole opposition to the vaccination has been horribly irresponsible and contrary to the country’s best interest.
Comment by moving forward Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 1:29 pm
Some hospitals have interesting, localized metrics on how they determine a Covid hospitalization, we found out. Jacksonville Memorial Hospital, for instance, will move a patient into long-term care and out of Covid isolation after a set number of days because “they are no longer considered infectious.”
Is this something that is particular to just us and the Memorial Health System? How is IDPH quantifying the hospital metric? Just curious, not a knock on the reporting - just need clarification if there’s a unified standard.
Locally, our hospitalization rate has gone down from a high of almost 22 at JMH last week down to 18. Some of that has been due to an unfortunate increase in deaths.
As the Capitol News Illinois article detailing the teacher shortage points out, transmission rate here in West Central IL is unusually high right now.
Comment by WLDS News Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 1:33 pm
The chart showing the death rates flies in the face of claims by red state governors like DeSantis claiming that their “let ER rip” policies had no negative consequences for their people. This has been true for well over a year and yet some in the media and most GOPers cling to this wildly wrong narrative. Red Covid policies killed hundreds of thousands of Americans unnecessarily.
Comment by New Day Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 1:35 pm
It’s good there’s some bit of hope as it seems we’re in decline from the Omicron peak.
Comment by Hot Taeks Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 1:43 pm
I just ordered my free COVID tests–
https://www.covidtests.gov/
order was confirmed and will be shipped later this month.
Comment by Nearly Normal Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 1:46 pm
As much as I loathe covidiots, is it too much to murmur or type sorry for your loss when someone reports the loss of a loved one?
Why can’t we let our bygones be bygones with the dead once they are dead? And grieve with the relatives?
An interesting counterpoint, do the relatives and loved ones of folks executed get sympathy or condolences? Using the above logic, they should, still loved ones even the dead have made poor choices.
Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 1:56 pm
I am starting to slightly unclench. Oldest child has been boosted; younger two got fully vaxxed in December. Local hospitalization rates are falling, and in-school transmission at our district has been pretty minimal. (A lot of kids GOT omicron, but they mostly got it at home.) I feel like I can maybe, slightly relax after two solid years of intense anxiety for my kids’ safety.
Comment by Suburban Mom Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 2:17 pm
I had two shots and a booster and last week I tested positive for COVID. The symptoms were mild and cold-like. I’m back to work today. But I learned the shots aren’t silver bullets.
Comment by IllinoisBoi Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 3:11 pm
I find any covid statistics report on the first day back to work a little inaccurate. Especially the first day after a long weekend. I’m not sure that Monday morning gets everything reported in time for a noon release. I will be more interested in Friday’s report.
Comment by thoughts matter Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 3:39 pm
===I’m not sure that Monday morning gets everything reported in time for a noon release===
Could be, but hospitalizations are pretty darned accurate each day. And they report 7 days a week. Unlike county coroners, for example, they’re also open 7 days a week.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 3:40 pm
===But I learned the shots aren’t silver bullets.===
Sounds like the shots did their job. You didn’t die or get hospitalized. Why you beefing?
Comment by Jibba Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 3:52 pm
=== Sounds like the shots did their job. You didn’t die or get hospitalized. Why you beefing?===
This is the correct thinking.
You can’t un-die. You can have significant physical damage that can’t be undone… get vaccinated, boosters… you chances of any of those decrease.
But, if you think that as this continues to be about “Freedom and ‘Merica” and folks, unvaccinated folks are the overwhelming majority of the bad cases, how can the shots help eradicate when the pace of infections, including the unvaccinated, is at a pandemic rate?
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 18, 22 @ 3:58 pm