COVID-19 update per. February 24: The city of Evanston ends its mask and vaccine mandates per. February 28 with some exceptions
New COVID cases in the state have fallen from a 7-day average of 32,501 on January 12 to a 7-day average of 2,020 on February 24, a fall of 94%. New cases in Evanston have also dropped dramatically. Hospital admissions due to COVID have also shown significant decreases.
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss announced yesterday, February 23, that the city’s Health and Human Services Department (H & HSD) will lift some of its vaccination and indoor masking mandates on February 28, in line with Governor JB Pritzker’s timeline.
“This means that the city’s H & HSD will no longer require the wearing of masks in indoor public spaces, such as shops, leisure facilities, town halls, libraries, entertainment venues, restaurants and other spaces. In addition, businesses and venues will no longer be required to verify customers’ proof of vaccination, ”said the mayor.
After 28 February, however, there will continue to be a need for masks where the state or federal government has a mandate to protect vulnerable populations, including health environments, long-term care facilities, assembly environments such as shelters, public transportation. Refer to Illinois DCFS Guide regarding masking in day care institutions.
Evanston companies can choose to continue implementing their own mask and / or vaccine requirements for patrons after February 28th.
Mayor Biss said the city will continue to maintain its mandatory vaccination policy for all employees of the City of Evanston, City Council, members of boards, committees and commissions, contractors, volunteers, trainees, seasonal and part-time employees. Currently, 89 percent of city staff are fully vaccinated, and the remaining 11 percent of staff must complete weekly COVID-19 testing.
The schools
The validity of Governor JB Pritzker’s ordinance requiring masking in schools is still in the air. Several weeks ago, a district court entered into a temporary restraining order prohibiting the state from enforcing the ordinance against the school districts that were plaintiffs in the case. An appeals court dismissed an appeal of TRO from the governor, finding that an administrative emergency measure containing a mask mandate had expired and that a legislature refused to approve a new emergency rule that would have extended the mandate. Governor Pritzker argues that even if an administrative rule is no longer in force, a decree he wrote that required masks in schools is still effective for all school districts that are not parties to the lawsuit.
On February 22, Governor Pritzker asked the Illinois Supreme Court to consider the issue to clarify.
Although Gov. Pritzker’s executive order is no longer effective, school districts can impose their own masking requirements.
Devon Horton, Superintendent of School District 65, issued a statement saying administrators are consulting with the city’s health department, medical advisors and union leaders to discuss masking demands. “At this point, masks are still required indoors,” he said, adding “We look forward to sharing an update with our community next week.”
Last week, Dr. Horton that masks are not required outdoors.
Evanston Township High School said it continues to monitor national, regional and local guidance. “Due to the lack of clarity and fluidity of state mandates, ETHS strongly recommends, but does not mandate, wearing masks while indoors for all students and staff as of February 28, 2022,” administrators said in a prepared statement.
The city’s H & HSD continues to recommend masks in schools, especially in crowded environments where physical distance cannot be maintained, such as large indoor events.
Trends for new cases in Illinois and Evanston
Illinois: On February 24, the number of new cases in the state was 1,979, down from 2,538 on February 17th.
The seven-day average of new cases in Illinois on February 24 was 2,020 compared to 3,289 on February 17, a decrease of 39%. The seven-day average is about 6% of what it was at the peak on January 12th. An accompanying chart shows the trend since October 28th.
IDPH estimates that 99% of the new cases are due to the Omicron variant.
Evanston: Evanston reported that there were 12 new COVID-19 cases of Evanston residents on 23 February. (Evanston reports COVID-19 data one day late).
There were a total of 93 new COVID-19 cases of Evanston residents in the week ending Feb. 123, compared with 109 new cases in the seven days ending Feb. 17.
The seven-day average of new cases was 13.3 for the week ending February 23, compared to 15.6 for the week ending February 17. An accompanying diagram shows the trend.
An Evanstonian died due to COVID-19 in the week ending 23 February. The number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 142 according to the city.
Cases on D65 and ETHS: School District 65’s COVID-19 dashboard reports that in the seven days ending February 22, a total of 6 students and 0 staff tested positive for COVID-19.
ETHS reports on its dashboard that during the seven-day period ending February 22, 6 students and 2 staff tested positive for COVID-19.
The data do not reflect whether students and staff contracted the virus while in school.
The Impact of Northwestern University. The latest data reported on NU’s website is that between 11 February and 17 February, there were 206 new COVID-19 cases by faculty, staff or students. If the cases concern an Evanston resident, they are included in Evanston’s data for the relevant period. NOW updating its data tomorrow.
The level of risk of Community proliferation
The weekly number of new cases per 100,000 people in Illinois dropped from 182 in the seven days ending Feb. 17 to 112 in the seven days ending Feb. 24.
Pr. February 23 was the weekly number of new cases per. 100,000 people in Evanston 126. Per. On February 24, the number was 77 for Chicago and 93 for Suburban Cook County.
According to the CDC guidelines, an area is considered a “high transmission” area if it has more than 100 new weekly cases per day. 100,000 people. If the number of cases is between 50 and 100, the area is considered a “significant transmission” area. See footnote 2.
Test positivity rates: The last seven-day test positivity rates are as follows: Illinois – 2.5%; Chicago – 1.4%; Suburban Cook County – 2.1%; and Evanston – 0.96%.
The CDC and IDPH both say that if an area has a test positivity below 5.0%, it is considered to have a “low” transmission rate.
Vaccinations
Pr. On February 24, 80.6% of Illinois residents 5 years of age and older had at least one dose of a vaccine, and 71.5% were fully vaccinated. Source CDC and IDPH.
Data provided by IDPH indicate that only about 50.9% of the people in Illinois who are fully vaccinated have received the booster injection, which is considered important for increasing the effectiveness of the vaccines.
Pr. Feb 24 96.9% of Evanston residents aged 5 and older had received at least one dose of a vaccine; 86.9% were fully vaccinated. The source town of Evanston.
Admissions
Admissions of COVID patients continue to decline. In Illinois, the number of admissions of COVID patients dropped from 7,380 on January 12 to 1,183 on February 23.
In Suburban Cook County, the number of hospital admissions due to COVID-19 dropped from a seven-day average of 502 to 309 within the last 10 days. In Chicago, the number went from 427 to 293.
In Chicago and Suburban Cook County, the percentage of beds in intensive care units available is 17% and 19%, respectively. IDPH says the desired minimum is 20%.
Deaths: Dead
There were a total of 63 deaths due to COVId-19 in Illinois on February 24th. The average of seven days was 47 compared to 65 a week ago.
FOOTNOTES
1 / The state moved to Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois Plan on June 11th. From 1 July Round table has covered COVID-19 measurements once a week on Thursdays. Specifically, RoundTable presents two charts showing: 1) the trends in the number of new COVID-19 cases per year. 100,000 people in the last two seven-day periods for Evanston, Chicago, Suburban Cook County and the state. The chart also shows the weekly number of new cases for each region per. June 10 as a baseline to measure whether cases have increased since the transition to Phase 5; and 2) the latest test positivity rates for these areas.
As discussed in footnote 3 below, the CDC recommends that these two measures be used to determine the level of transfer risk. If we see an increase in new cases or in the test positivity rates, we will consider covering additional measurements.
We will also report the latest percentages of vaccinated individuals, 12 years and older, in Evanston and Illinois.
2 / In late July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Evanston’s Health & Human Services Dept. each recommendations that everyone, including fully vaccinated people, wear a mask in a public indoor environment in areas with “significant” and “high transmission” of new COVID-19 cases. Areas with significant transfer are considered to be areas with between 50 and 99 cases per. 100,000 people over a 7-day period. Areas with high transmission are considered to be areas with more than 100 cases per 100,000 people over a 7-day period.
They also recommend universal indoor masking to all teachers, staff, students and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.
3 / On 12 February, the CDC issued a K-12 school operation strategy. As part of that strategy, the report states The CDC recommends the use of two measures to determine the level of transfer risk: 1) the total number of new cases per 100,000 people in the last 7 days; and 2) the percentage of COVID tests during the last seven days that were positive. The CDC provides a chart to assess whether the risk of transmission is low, moderate, significant, or high. If the two indicators indicate different levels of risk, the CDC says the higher level of risk should be used. The table below, reprinted from the CDC report, provides the CDC indicators and thresholds for Community transmission of COVID-219.
The CDC’s guidelines are available here: Operational strategy for K-12 schools through step-by-step prevention | CDC
Cook County CDC COVID Data Tracker
