Coronavirus Latest: Daily updates from NBC 5

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In the Know: Your Daily Coronavirus Update It's Monday, Sep. 12th Here are today's top stories. 1 Illinois Coronavirus Updates: Counties at 'High' Alert Level, Latest Symptoms Several Illinois counties still remain at a "high" COVID alert level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and while transmission continues, many will want to be aware of the symptoms to watch for. Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic across Illinois today: As COVID-19 continues to mutate, the virus is also finding new ways to present itself in patients. Read More → 2 COVID-19 Symptoms Have Changed Over Time. Here Are the Latest Signs of Infection to Look Out For As COVID-19 mutates, composing itself to become highly-transmittable through novel strains, the virus is also finding new ways to present itself in patients. It's important to note what COVID-19 symptoms may appear as, considering the latest BA.5 variant remains the country's dominant driver of infections, and that the pandemic is facing its third winter — a season that has been typically marked by a surge in cases. While some symptoms have become more or less noticeable since the start of the pandemic, officials say that respiratory symptoms from the virus remain the most prevalent. Read More → 3 COVID by the Numbers: 28 Illinois Counties Sit at 'High' Community Levels Illinois continues to wrestle with COVID-19, with 28 counties remaining at a "high" community level of the virus, according to the latest data released Friday by Illinois health officials. Portions of northwest Illinois, including Carroll, Jo Daviess, Ogle, Dekalb, Lee and Whiteside, fall into the "high" community level category. A couple western counties are also at a "high" level of virus activity: Adams and Pike. Read More → 4 Are You Still Contagious With COVID After 5 Days? Here's What We Know As COVID's incubation period changes, what does that mean for isolation time and how long you are contagious? During a Facebook Live last month, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady reported that recent studies have shown the incubation period for COVID has dropped to three days with recent variants. "So if you go back to like alpha variant, beta, delta – early on, it was about a five-day incubation period on average. So, if you were exposed to COVID, on average we were seeing people take about five days for someone to end up testing positive – and remember that went from four to five, out to 10, out to 14," she said. "The reason … we only use 10 days now, it is because that timing has shortened. And so, more recently with BA.4, BA.5, that's all the way down to about three days now. So on average, people are testing positive about three days after, but you can have someone positive up to 10 days." Read More → 5 Coronavirus in Illinois: Nearly 20K New Cases, 64 Deaths Reported in Last Week Illinois health officials reported 19,933 new COVID-19 cases over the past week, along with 64 additional deaths, marking a decrease in cases from a week prior, as 28 counties within the state remain at a "high" community level for COVID-19. The previous week, Illinois reported 26,127 new cases and 70 deaths. The week before that, 24,297 new cases and 82 deaths were reported. The latest numbers come as reformulated vaccines that target the latest omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, began across the state. Read More → 6 Illinois Coronavirus Updates: Symptoms, Incubation Period, Vaccination Rates While new omicron-specific booster shots are underway across the Chicago area, health experts say there's a concerning vaccination metric that many may not have been watching. Plus, how long are you contagious with COVID and how are symptoms changing? Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic across Illinois today: Read More → Got a tip or story idea? tips@nbcchicago.com Follow Unsubscribe | Unsubscribe from this mailing: WMAQ_coronavirus | Change email preferences | Privacy | Terms ©2021 Copyright NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations 30 Rockefeller Plaza - New York, NY 10112