With COVID levels rising in some Illinois counties, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending masking in certain locations.
Plus, how accurate is an at-home test and when can you trust your results?
Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic across Illinois today.
Masks Now Recommended in 12 Illinois Counties After Reaching ‘High’ COVID Community Level
With cases increasing in Illinois as weather gets colder and residents return from holiday gatherings, 12 of the state’s 102 counties have now reached a “high” community level, according to the CDC.
The data, which monitors the community COVID level in Illinois counties each week, showed 63 counties in Illinois at an elevated COVID community level.
Read more here.
FDA Announces Monoclonal Antibody Not Authorized Due to Inability to Fight Omicron
A year after the omicron variant of COVID-19 began to upend the world and start a new stage of the pandemic, several new subvariants have originated from the variant, with reaction to treatment changing along with the subvariants.
With the recent rise of the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1. subvariants, one previously administered monoclonal antibody is no longer authorized for emergency use due to the medication’s inability to neutralize the subvariants.
Read more here.
How Accurate Are COVID Tests? Here’s What to Know About At-Home Virus Detection
If you are trying to figure out if you have COVID, you probably turn to taking an at-home COVID test. But how accurate are they?
The Food and Drug Administration says at-home COVID antigen tests are expected to detect the virus at least 80% of the time when the user is infected. So if you take one and get a positive result, you can assume it’s accurate and you are infected.
But if you take a test in the early stages of your infection, especially if you are not exhibiting any symptoms, the test can produce a false negative result, the FDA notes. That means the test may not have detected the virus in the sample, but you could very well still have it — and spread it.
Read more here.
Flu Activity Now ‘Very High’ in Both Illinois and Indiana, CDC Says
As the weather gets colder, flu season is worsening, and both Illinois and Indiana are no exception.
Influenza activity is considered to be “very high” in both states based on the most recent data from the week ending Nov. 26, according to a Weekly Influenza Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At least 43 other states are reporting “high” or “very high” flu activity, according to the CDC.
Read more here.
20K New COVID Cases, 57 Deaths Reported in Last Week, Illinois Health Officials Say
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 20,495 new COVID cases over the past week, as well as 57 additional deaths, as it warned of an increase in COVID and other respiratory viruses across the state.
A total of 63 Illinois counties have been categorized at an “elevated” COVID community level as of the most recent week, ending Nov. 18, marking an increase from 46 counties the previous week.
Read more here.
New CDC Data Shows 63 Illinois Counties At Elevated Level of COVID-19 Transmission; 12 Counties at ‘High’ Level
Cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in the state of Illinois, with CDC data released Friday reflecting the statewide increase.
Days after Illinois saw its largest single-day number of COVID-19 cases since August, community transmission level data from the CDC shows 63 of Illinois’ 102 counties above a “low” COVID-19 community level.
Of the 63 counties with elevated transmission, 12 saw a “high” COVID-19 community level over the past seven days, with 51 counties reporting a “medium” COVID-19 community level.
Read more here.
Millions Suffer From Long COVID — and It Costs Them $9,000 a Year in Health-Care Expenses, on Average
Long COVID has affected as many as 23 million Americans to date — and it’s poised to have…
Read More: Masking Urged in Some Counties, At-Home Test Accuracy – NBC Chicago