Illinois ‘moving in the right direction’ amid coronavirus resurgence, surgeon general says

While deaths remain high, the state has averaged about 6,800 new cases a day over the last week, down from a staggering rate of about 11,800 cases per day this time last month.

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U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams speaks to staff Tuesday at Saint Anthony Hospital along city and state public health officials.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams speaks to staff Tuesday at Saint Anthony Hospital alongside city and state public health officials.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams praised Illinois residents and public health officials on Tuesday for “doing your part to help us flatten the curve” of a severe autumn coronavirus resurgence, but he said it’ll take “vigilance” to keep that trend improving into the new year.

The federal government’s top doctor, who visited health care workers “busting their tails” at Saint Anthony Hospital in Little Village, echoed local officials urging people to cancel plans for large family gatherings, especially with additional shipments of the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines headed to the state this week.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 6,239 new COVID-19 cases diagnosed among 84,764 tests, lowering the state’s average positivity rate over the last week to 7.4%. That number, which indicates how rapidly the virus is spreading, has shrunk almost by half compared to the peak of Illinois’ fall resurgence, when it soared to 13.2% on Nov. 13.

“The numbers here in Illinois and in Chicago are moving in the right direction, and we have a finish line in sight with these two vaccines,” Adams said. “But we have to stay the course a little bit longer. We can’t let fatigue cause us to make poor decisions this holiday season that end up making us backtrack, especially when we are so incredibly close to getting ourselves, and everyone else, across the finish line.”

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The state has taken only its first few steps toward that line as officials work to immunize Illinois’ 655,000 health care workers and 110,000 nursing home residents.

Since the state received its first allotment of 109,000 vaccine doses last week, more than 63,000 health care workers outside Chicago have gotten their shots, while almost 13,000 workers who live in the city have been vaccinated.

The supply is expected to be bolstered Wednesday and Thursday as the state begins receiving its first 174,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, about 46,800 of which are earmarked for Chicago.

Illinois is also slated to receive about 60,500 more Pfizer shots this week from the federal government, including about 16,600 sent directly to Chicago.

That’s less than half the total originally promised to Illinois by this week, a faulty projection that Adams chalked up to “some hiccups along the way” of an unprecedented logistical effort.

“We’re committed to continuing to improve what we know is going to be a difficult process,” Adams said.

Emergency room technician Demetrius Mcalister has vaccine administered as U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams watches at Saint Anthony Hospital Tuesday.

Emergency room technician Demetrius Mcalister has vaccine administered as U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams watches at Saint Anthony Hospital Tuesday.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Next in line for the vaccine after health care workers and long-term care facility residents are essential workers and older people with underlying health conditions. It’ll be several months before the vaccine is widely available.

Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said the city will launch a mass vaccination site next week that will start out as an appointment-only center for health care workers.

Starting next month, the list of those eligible for a shot in the city will expand to other front-line workers including dentists and dental workers, morticians and homeless shelter employees.

Arwady also renewed her plea for families to avoid holiday gatherings as the city’s coronavirus numbers have only recently declined to pre-Thanksgiving levels.

The entire state is still feeling the effects of that fall surge in terms of coronavirus deaths, which are mounting as quickly as ever. Fatalities are considered a “lagging indicator” of the pandemic because it typically takes a few weeks for an uptick in cases to result in more serious illnesses that require hospitalization and ultimately end in tragedy.

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Officials announced the Illinois’ latest 116 deaths Tuesday, including 41 Cook County residents and 21 others from across the Chicago area.

While the statewide case rate has fallen from an average of 11,800 new cases per day a month ago down to about 6,800 cases per day over the last week, the daily death rate has increased from about 110 per day this time last month, compared to 130 over the last week.

Since March, about 12.6 million coronavirus tests have been administered in Illinois, with 911,308 people testing positive and 15,414 of those dying. The recovery rate is 98%.

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