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The Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted unanimously today to recommend that the FDA approve Moderna booster injections for people who had previously received Moderna’s vaccine. Those eligible for the booster include people over 65 and other adults who are considered at high risk. Eligible groups are those eligible for the Pfizer booster.
Locally, the number of new Evanstonians’ COVID-19 cases fell from 84 a week ago to 57 in the week ending October 14.
Recent trends
New cases: The weekly number of new cases per 100,000 population in Illinois fell from 157 to 126 in the week ending Oct. 14, a 19% drop from the previous week. The number of new cases per week in the state is now about six times higher than it was on June 10, the day before the state entered Phase 5 of the Illinois Restoration Plan.
The graph above shows that trends in new cases per week are also lower in Suburban Cook County, Chicago and Evanston. The number of new cases per 100,000 for Evanston, Suburban Cook County, Chicago and Illinois is shown below:
Evanston – 77
Cook Suburb County – 108
Chicago – 82
Illinois – 126
Under CDC guidelines, Suburban Cook County and Illinois are considered “high transmission” areas. Evanston and Chicago are considered areas of “substantial transmission”. See footnote 2.
Test positivity rate: The seven-day test positivity rates in each region are as follows: Evanston 0.4%; Suburban Cook County – 2.1%; Chicago – 1.8%; and Illinois – 2.6%. Test positivity rates are lower in each area or the same or slightly lower than they were a week ago.
Vaccinations: The number of people vaccinated in the state continues to increase, but at a very slow rate. As of October 14, 80.9% of Illinois residents aged 12 and over had received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to 80.4% on October 7; and 63.4% were fully vaccinated, up from 62.9% on October 7. These percentages include people who reside in Illinois and have been vaccinated in Illinois or other states. The 7-day average for vaccinations is 27,559, up from 33,510 a week ago. Source CDC and IDPH.
As of October 14, 88.9% of Evanston residents aged 12 and over had received at least one dose of the vaccine; 82% were fully vaccinated. There is a fraction of a percentage point increase in each number from the previous week. Source town of Evanston.
Evanston – COVID
Evanston reported 5 new cases of COVID-19 from Evanston residents today, up from 18 yesterday and 13 Tuesday.
The numbers are higher than a week ago. There have been a total of 57 new cases of Covid-19 from Evanston residents in the past seven days, up from 84 in the previous seven days. Over the past week, 12,500 COVID-19 tests have been administered.
The seven-day test positivity rate is 0.4% today, down from 0.5% a week ago.
There were a total of 5,360 COVID-19 cases from Evanston residents during the pandemic, of which 101 are active.
No Evanstonian has died from COVID-19 since September 14. The number of deaths from COVID-19 is 121.
Case at D65 and ETHS. According to data published on the School District 65 website, there were 5 new cases of COVID-19 among students in District 65 during the week ending October 12, and 38 students were in quarantine. The data does not indicate whether students were infected in schools. There were no new cases for the teachers and 1 teacher was in quarantine.
According to data published on the ETHS website, for the week ending October 12, there were no new cases of COVID-19 from a student at ETHS and 6 were in quarantine. For staff, there were 2 new cases, and 2 staff were in quarantine. The data does not indicate whether students were infected in schools.
Northwestern University Impact. The most recent data on Northwestern University’s website reports that between October 1 and October 7, there were 28 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 from a faculty member, staff member or a NU student. If the faculty member, staff member, or student resides in Evanston, the case (s) will be included in the city figures. NU will update its data on October 14.
FOOTNOTES
1 / The state moved to Phase 5 of the Illinois Restoration Plan on June 11. As of July 1, the Round table covered COVID-19 metrics once a week on Thursday. Specifically, the Roundtable presents two graphs showing: 1) trends in the number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over two recent seven-day periods for Evanston, Chicago, Suburban Cook County and the State. The graph also shows the weekly number of new cases for each region as of June 10 as a baseline to assess whether cases are increasing since moving to phase 5; and 2) the most recent test positivity rates for these areas.
As noted in footnote 3 below, the CDC recommends that these two measurements be used to determine the level of risk of transmission. If we see an increase in the number of new cases or test positivity rates, we will consider covering additional metrics.
We will also report the most recent percentages of people vaccinated, ages 12 and older, in Evanston and Illinois.
2 / At the end of July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Evanston Department of Health and Human Services each adopted recommendations that all the world, including fully vaccinated people, should wear a mask in an indoor public setting in areas with “substantial” and “high” transmission of new COVID-19 cases. Areas of substantial transmission are considered to be between 50 and 99 cases per 100,000 people over a 7-day period. High transmission areas are considered to be those with more than 100 cases per 100,000 population over a 7-day period.
They also recommend universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of their immunization status.
3 / On February 12, the CDC released an operational strategy for K-12 schools. As part of this strategy, the report indicates The CDC recommends the use of two measures to determine the level of risk of transmission: 1) the total number of new cases per 100,000 people in the past 7 days; and 2) the percentage of COVID tests in the past seven days that have been positive. The CDC provides a table to assess whether the risk of transmission is low, moderate, substantial, or high. If the two indicators suggest different risk levels, the CDC indicates that the higher risk level should be used. The table below, reprinted from the CDC report, provides the CDC’s indicators and thresholds for community transmission of COVID-219.
CDC guidelines are available here: Operational Strategy for Kindergarten to Grade 12 Schools Through Progressive Prevention | CDC
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