SPRINGFIELD, Ill — The Illinois Department of Public Health is adjusting the way it tracks COVID-19 data in accordance with new federal guidelines that shift priorities.
The new guidelines are said to change which statistics are more closely tracked and reported in order to better track COVID-19 prevalence in communities.
Adopting the CDC practice, IDPH will be emphasizing case and hospitalization rates, and will not be required to report test and case positivity.
The department is also bolstering its COVID-19 dashboard site with new data, including updated vaccination rates, the number of people hospitalized with the virus, and other detailed hospitalization data points.
Also under the guidance, states will no longer have to report negative antigen test (rapid test) results - only PCR and NAAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Test) results from tests performed in laboratories.
Officials say that the spread of at-home testing means that national testing data isn't as accurately representative as it used to be.
“Test and case positivity rates were seen as a good way to monitor the level of community spread early in the pandemic,” said IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars. “At this stage, now that we have vaccines and effective therapies available, it is more useful to rely on data that indicates the case rate, disease severity and the level of strain on health care system to guide our public health recommendations.”
IDPH notes that even though hospitalizations and deaths are currently low, COVID-19 case rates are slowly rising, and says that those at high risk for serious illness should take precautions like vaccination, masking, avoiding large gatherings, and other well-worn safety measures.
