New COVID-19 hospital admissions in Evanston declined slightly this week, but still remained high enough to keep the community risk level at “medium.”
The seven-day total of new admissions per 100,000 population was 10.24 as of Thursday, compared to 11.52 a week ago.
The total number of people hospitalized with COVID symptoms at Evanston’s two hospitals has varied from 22 to 40 over the past seven days.
CDC guidelines about precautions to take at the current risk level are available online.
Evanston has reported 231 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past seven days, with a big surge right after Christmas, compared to 147 for the preceding period.
The city announced today that starting Jan. 1 it will shift from daily to weekly reporting of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
The weekly updates will be provided each Thursday for the previous week ending Sunday.
The new reporting pattern, the city says, matches one now used by the Centers for Disease Control and the Illinois Department of Public Health.
In a news release, the city said health department officials believe weekly reporting will provide the public “with a more accurate picture of COVID-19 trends across the state over time by tracking cases and deaths by the week they arise, rather than the date they are reported, which may be days or weeks later.”