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McLean County falls back to low COVID transmission; new boosters are available

McLean County Health Department sign
Emily Bollinger
/
WGLT

McLean County has dropped to low COVID transmission after seeing a drop in new cases and hospitalizations.

In communities with low transmission, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) relaxes some COVID guidelines, but still recommends people who are at highest risk of COVID complications, or who live with high-risk people, to consider wearing a mask in indoor public places.

McLean County is one of 34 Illinois counties at low level, along with all surrounding counties except Tazewell (medium). Forty Illinois counties are medium and 28 are at high transmission.

According to data from the McLean County Health Department (MCHD), the county reported 227 new coronavirus cases, the county’s lowest weekly total since April 8. The rate of new hospitalizations was nearly cut in half in the last week —from 11.5 per 100,000 residents to 6.2. The county’s seven-day testing positivity rate fell to 17.2%.

There have been 393 COVID-related deaths in McLean County since the start of the pandemic.

New boosters

MCHD is now scheduling appointments for the new COVID-19 booster that attacks multiple omicron subvariants.

The Moderna COVID-19 bivalent vaccine is available to people age 18 and older. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 is available to anyone age 12 or older. Eligible people must have had a primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine more than two months ago.

The vaccine also is available at multiple Bloomington-Normal pharmacies.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 63.3% of McLean County residents are fully vaccinated.

Eric Stock is the News Director at WGLT. You can contact Eric at ejstoc1@ilstu.edu.
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