Has omicron peaked in US? Chicago officials say city now past COVID variant peak

CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago has formally handed the height of COVID-19 infections pushed by the extremely transmissible omicron variant, town’s high physician introduced Wednesday.

Chicago Division of Public Well being Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady shared the hopeful information in her weekly COVID-19 replace after weeks of skyrocketing circumstances, however warned residents to not let their guard down but.

WATCH | Chicago is previous omicron peak, Dr. Arwady says

Arwady mentioned the primary indicator of progress was a decline in emergency room diagnoses of COVID-19, which peaked on Dec. 7. She added that take a look at positivity within the metropolis peaked on Jan. 1 and has been declining ever since.

Pritzker and the state’s high physician mentioned hospitalizations reached their peak in Illinois seven days in the past, on Jan. 13.

“We’re assured seeing that large lower each in circumstances and in positivity that this isn’t simply an artifact of testing, however that is in reality a real peak,” Arwady mentioned.

Arwady mentioned the omicron variant now makes up 99.3% of all COVID-19 circumstances in Chicago, with solely 0.7% of circumstances attributed to delta.

SEE ALSO | Gov. Pritzker ‘cautiously optimistic’ Illinois is previous omicron peak

Whereas town’s COVID metrics are bettering, Arwady warned that the danger of an infection stays excessive, and urged residents to get vaccinated and proceed sporting masks to gradual the unfold of the virus.

“We’ve got a really lengthy method to go to be right down to a spot the place that is manageable,” Arwady mentioned. “You already know, the place we’re ‘dwelling with COVID,’ and I do suppose we’ll be dwelling with COVID for the long run.”

The most recent statistics present unvaccinated Chicagoans are 5 instances extra prone to be hospitalized with COVID and eight instances extra prone to die, Arwady mentioned.

“I’m cautiously optimistic about this decline, however there are an terrible lot of individuals nonetheless battling for his or her lives in hospitals throughout Illinois,” Pritzker mentioned.

It was simply Tuesday when Gov. Pritzker introduced federal groups are heading to Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, to assist the overburdened workers there look after sufferers.

And deaths, which frequently lag behind hospitalizations, are nonetheless rising.

Many different components of the nation nonetheless haven’t handed the omicron peak.