Only 28 counties in Illinois are now at an elevated level for COVID-19, compared to 61 in the previous week, according to the CDC. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported that, across the board, Illinois counties have dropped in risk levels.
In the past week, counties rated as "High Community Level" dropped from five to two, and counties rated as "Medium Level" dropped by more than half. Champaign County is no exception to this trend.
Illinois Department of Public Health Graphic
CU is currently ranked as a "Low Level" community, with 103 active cases as of January 20.
"We're seeing a precipitous drop in respiratory viruses that were really a problem earlier in winter," Brandon Meline, Director of Maternal and Child Health at the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, said.
What Meline is referring to is an assumed effect of the holiday season: families getting together to celebrate and potentially increasing risk of infection to one another. Meline said that though CUPHD anecdotally heard of some post-holiday COVID-19 cases, the rate of hospitalizations or intensive care admissions did not seem to be affected.
"This is a good thing," he added. "Hopefully, we are getting to the backend of the winter peak here in Champaign."
The month of January looks statistically hopeful for Champaign county, with the number of active cases dropping each week so far.
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