Evanston’s Health Department says the city’s COVID-19 risk level — after being considered low for several weeks — has now edged into the medium risk category.
The Centers for Disease Control says a community’s risk level is medium if the seven-day total of new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 population is 10 to 19.9 or if the seven-day average for percentage of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients is 10% to 14.9%.
This week’s results for Evanston showed the COVID admissions level at 10.24 — just above the “medium” threshold, while the bed count was 4.86% — still well within the “low” range.
The CDC suggests that at the medium risk level persons at high risk of getting very sick should wear a high quality mask or respirator when indoors in public.