Chicago Heights Coronavirus Cases Increase As Holiday's Approach

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL — Reaching the final month of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic is still upon us, and cases continue to rise in the state of Illinois.

State health officials say they are getting ready to distribute the coronavirus vaccine across Illinois as soon as it becomes available — hopefully in a matter of weeks. Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said she anticipates receiving about 400,000 doses of the vaccine within 48 hours of its approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

Until a vaccine is approved and coronavirus restrictions are lifted, cases in Chicago Heights continue to appear, according to the Cook County Department of Public Health.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 2,185 coronavirus cases in Chicago Heights, and in the past week, 200 cases were reported, according to the CCDPH. The village has reportedly seen an increase in positivity over the past two weeks by 12.9 percent.

With a slight decrease in cases in Illinois over the past week, Govonor J.B. Pritzker said he will not be loosening restrictions just yet. According to Pritzker, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the massive number of indoor gatherings due to people visiting family across the nation will very likely bring a post-Thanksgiving surge, and he believes this is no time to pull back on mitigations.

The entire state moved to Tier 3 mitigations toward the end of November, which meant the closing of casinos, theaters, indoor museums, performing arts centers and indoor amusement centers. Indoor service at bars and restaurants is now prohibited, and retail and grocery stores will operate at 25 percent capacity, with delivery or curbside pickup options encouraged.

Johns Hopkins University and Medicine reports there have been a total of 63,522,286 COVID-19 cases around the world— as of Dec. 1. Over 13 million of those cases are here in the United States. On Nov. 1, the U.S. had over nine-million confirmed cases.

Hospitalizations and Equipment

Across suburban Cook County, the positivity rate and the rate of hospital admissions has been rising sharply. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported that there are 4,640 people across Illinois in the hospital for COVID-19 or are under investigation. About 24 percent of hospital beds are being occupied by these patients and 1,195 of these patients are in the ICU, as of Dec. 1.

Illinois occupies a total of 5,702 ventilators and the IDPH reports 38 percent of COVID patients in hospitals are on ventilators. IDPH said 67 percent of the state's ventilators are available.

Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn had 188 COVID-19 patients on Monday evening, according to a source within the facility.

Cases By Race/Ethnicity

In terms of case count by race, in suburban Cook, the public health department reports 34,104 white COVID-19 positive cases. The department reports 13,662 Black coronavirus positive cases.

Additionally, 27,341 Hispanic/Latino cases have been reported, alongside 3,788 Asian cases, according to the department.

Hospitalization rates per ethnicity fluctuates. There are 3,460 white patients, 2,608 Black patients, 427 Asian patients and 1,887 Hispanic/Latino patients, the department reports.

Cases By Age

The department reports a surge in COVID patients among people in their 20s. A total of 24,208 people in their 20s have caught the virus, according to the department.

People in their 40s are the second highest age group to catch the virus, with 21,394 cases reported by the department. Those in their 30s report 21,163, individuals in their 50s report 20,690. Under the age of 20 reports 17,373, while above 80 reports 6,012.

Although people in their 20s have the highest case rate, they are among the lowest age group hospitalized by the virus. Only 403 people in their 20s are hospitalized by COVID-19 within the county, according to the department. A total of 181 people under 20 are hospitalized.

Those in their 60s are currently the highest age group to be hospitalized by the virus, according to the department. A total of 1,857 people in their 60s are or have been hospitalized from the virus.

School Metrics

In suburban Cook, the IDPH reported their fourth "Risk Level Warning" at schools within the county. As a whole, there has been a 13.2 percent test positivity rate in the last week in suburban schools, according to the health department.

The southwest portion of the county has a 15.2 percent positivity rate in the last week within schools, according to the department.