Chicago, suburbs back down to low COVID-19 risk level: CDC

A COVID-19 vaccine is administered earlier this year at a Cook County administration site. The county’s coronavirus risk level is now considered “low.” (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)

For the first time in almost five months, Chicago’s COVID-19 risk level is considered low by federal standards, as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue a gradual decline across most of Illinois.

The statewide map that was covered in orange for much of the summer — indicating a high level of transmission as determined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — is now a deep green across Cook County and the collars, officials said Friday.