COVID-19’s Slight Uptick is Still Impacting Chicago Communities
By: Matt Balas
Tags: Covid 19, Chicago, Chicago Covid 19 Cases, Uptick, Covid 19 Vaccine

By Matthew Balas and Hawa Hussein

When Juhara Yusuf caught COVID-19 she found it “very tough to deal with.” Now, Yusuf encourages people to protect themselves from the disease, along with their families and friends.

“Wash your hands, wear your mask, use hand sanitizer, get vaccinated, and take care of yourself,” Yusuf said.

Even those basic steps can go a long way in preventing COVID-19, which is still impacting people around the world, especially here in Chicago. Many people have either had trouble overcoming the illness, coping with the loss of loved ones because of COVID-19, or adjusting to a new way of life.

Issak Jimjimo lost his brother-in-law, Abdulrazika Aman, to COVID-19.

“He was very ill,” Jimjimo said. “We initially thought it wasn’t COVID but later on, they found out it was COVID.”

“He was in the hospital for about 10 days,” Jimjimo said regarding the length of Aman’s hospital stay. Aman later passed away in October 2021.

Said Jimjimo, “People think COVID went away, but it didn’t go away. People need to take it seriously, wear a mask, and if you get a chance to take a shot, make sure you take a shot.”

The state of the pandemic has slightly shifted since the first quarantine period. Chicago’s COVID data shows that cases have remained relatively low recently, with daily cases averaging anywhere from 300 to 500 new cases.

Google MyMaps of COVID-19 cases by neighborhood in Chicago.

With an increase in vaccines administered and a decrease in COVID-19 cases, the city of Chicago has declared to be in phase 5 of being open again, feeling as though the city is safe enough to resume normal activities with new guidelines. However, some medical experts still urge people to be cautious with the recent and slight uptick in cases.

Dr. Andrew Aronsohn, a Transplant Hepatologist at the University of Chicago Medicine, said Chicago has done well with COVID-19 over the past month, although cases have been starting to rise in November.

“Chicago’s done well, and the numbers were going down quite a bit, but over the last few weeks, the numbers of new cases have gone up,” Aronsohn said. According to daily test positivity data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, numbers from the past month suggest that Chicago is experiencing a slight uptick in cases for November after having cases decrease the month prior.

Toward the end of October, the number of cases for COVID-19 in Chicago were as low as 290 at one point. However, according to Nov. 19 data from the health department, it shows the daily average of COVID-19 cases went up to 584.

Health officials have continued to provide recommendations for how people should protect themselves from COVID-19, with new advances in research giving reason for each safety method. Aronsohn has a couple of recommendations for staying safe.

“The absolute most important thing is to be vaccinated,” Aronsohn said. “When there’s CDC recommendations and city recommendations, make sure you’re wearing your mask when it’s recommended and where it is recommended.”

Nowadays, vaccines are available to the general public, and they’re one of healthcare professionals’ most common recommendations for staying safe from COVID-19.

Dr. Rochelle Bello, the Director of Infection Prevention at St. Bernard Hospital, also discussed why it’s so important for people to get vaccinated.

“We can increase the likelihood of herd immunity” Bello said, when discussing the importance of getting vaccinated. Some experts estimate that herd immunity could be achieved if 80–90% of the country gets vaccinated.

The CDC has deemed vaccines safe and effective and has also provided other information regarding negative events after vaccines were administered.

As of Nov. 19, about 60.4% of Chicago is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but many healthcare professionals would like to see that number increase, especially after dealing with the pandemic on the frontlines.

“This COVID pandemic has really taken a total toll on the hospital and medical industry, like none I’ve ever seen,” Bello said, explaining how the pandemic has impacted the medical industry. “We’ve gone to swing beds where we only have one bed in the room where you used to have two beds.”

The impact on the medical industry has been felt by many healthcare workers, including Bello who highlighted some pandemic hardships from a healthcare professional’s perspective.

Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have been approved for use in the United States. The CDC website also provides a breakdown of each vaccine to help inform people about vaccine eligibility and expectations when receiving a vaccine.

Google Trends Comparison of the 3 main types of vaccinations against COVID-19 in the U.S.

The CDC website continues to provide guidance for staying safe from COVID-19, as it keeps recommending the use of vaccinations, mask usage, and proper disinfection of surfaces.

The pandemic, which was officially declared as so in March of 2020, led Illinois and Chicago officials to take action to lessen the spread of the disease. While people hardly knew anything about the virus’s effects at the start of the pandemic, doctors and other healthcare workers have studied the impact of COVID-19 very closely during this time.

A year and a half into the pandemic, doctors and other healthcare workers have a strong understanding of COVID-19’s effects, mainly due to seeing the symptoms that many patients have dealt with.

Dr. Ibrahim Elemo, an Internal Medicine Hospitalist from Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, broke down how COVID-19 affects the body when someone is infected.

“It basically causes infection mainly within the respiratory system/respiratory tract, and it causes inflammation in many parts of the body,” Elemo said, regarding what happens to the human body when someone is infected with COVID-19.

“[People with COVID-19] will have the viral infection in the airways, and then that infection will involve the lungs.”

Elemo said various parts of the human body are impacted by COVID-19 when he highlighted some of the virus’s complications.

Elemo said, “patients who are sick from COVID can have inflammation within the blood vessels, and therefore, they are prone to developing blood clots in the legs or in the lungs.”

Elemo emphasized why COVID-19 is dangerous since it can affect different parts of the body. While there are many remaining unknowns regarding COVID-19’s long-term effects, other reported post-COVID conditions have lingered in some infections.

Interactive Venngage graphic on the effects of COVID-19 on one’s body.

While some have raised concerns about vaccine efficacy and safety, many healthcare officials, like Aronsohn, Bello, and Elemo, have recommended that people get vaccinated.

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Your Thoughts

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