In the CDC's weekly update of COVID-19 Community Levels released April 29, 9.7 percent—or 314—of the 3,220 counties in the United States and Puerto Rico are now designated at a "Medium" or "High" COVID-19 level.
That is an increase from 189 counties from the previous week.
The CDC determines COVID-19 Community Levels by combining the number of new local COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 hospital admissions and COVID-19 hospital capacity in the prior week.
Cook County, including Chicago, remains at a "Low" COVID-19 level this week, according to the CDC. Five counties in Illinois—DuPage, Lake, Champaign, McLean and Mason—are now at a "Medium" COVID-19 level. Other parts of the country with clusters of "Medium" include the southeast corner of Minnesota, northern Michigan and an area in southern Wisconsin around Madison.
With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise gradually in both suburban Cook County and the city of Chicago, Chicago/Cook County may move into the "Medium" COVID-19 community level in the next one to two weeks. This would happen if cases rose above 200 per 100,000 population over 7 days (currently at 190). However even with this continued gradual rise in cases, Chicago's COVID-19 hospitalizations (and deaths) remain at or near all-time pandemic lows.
