Illinois Coronavirus Updates: FDA Recommends 3 At-Home Tests, COVID Alert Levels Shift – NBC Chicago

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shifts its guidelines around COVID, the Federal Drug Association also revised its guidance around the amount of at-home tests one should take if potentially exposed to the virus.

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic across Illinois today:

Under revised guidance from the Food and Drug Administration, individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19 may need to take as many as three at-home tests to ensure that they are not experiencing asymptomatic infections.

The new guidance was issued last week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its own recommendations for those exposed to COVID, saying that quarantine is no longer recommended for those exposed to the virus and who are not showing symptoms.

According tothe new guidance from the FDA, individuals who are exposed to COVID are recommended to take a series of at-home tests to ensure that they are not experiencing an asymptomatic infection.

In total, the FDA recommends that patients who are not experiencing symptoms after an exposure to take three tests within a 96-hour span.

Read more here.

Fueled by the fast-spreading BA.5 subvariant, COVID-19 infections continue to occur across Illinois, with some communities in the southern portion of the state especially hard hit.

As of Friday, dozens of Illinois counties were listed at "high" community level status, according to the latest metrics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which did improve from a week earlier.

Read more here.

When many school districts across Illinois welcome back students next week, classrooms will look significantly different than last year - at least in terms of COVID precautions.

Following the lead of federal health officials, the state of Illinois announced it is adopting relaxed COVID guidance for K-12 public schools, which includes dropping the quarantine requirement and easing physical distancing.

Read more here.

Anyone who contracts COVID-19 is advised to isolate for at least five days, but could you be contagious even after that?

It's a possibility, according to Chicago's top doctor.

Read more here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new set of COVID guidelines Thursday, clarifying whether recovering individuals need to test out of isolation.

In its updated guidelines, the CDC recommended different approaches for patients based on their symptoms.

Read more here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unveiled a series of new COVID guidelines on Thursday afternoon, marking the organizations continued efforts to loosen restrictions as new treatments and vaccine formulations continue to be released.

The new guidelines, which focused primarily on changing quarantine and isolation recommendations, had been discussed for several weeks, but now the agency says it has streamlined its tips on what to do if individuals are infected with, or exposed to, the virus.

Read more here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its new COVID guidelines Thursday, shifting several recommendations just days after Chicago Public Schools issued its own set of policies for the 2022-2023 school year.

Both guidelines are reflective of continued efforts to loosen restrictions as new treatments and vaccine formulations continue to be released.

Read more here.

Two of Illinois most populous counties have seen reductions in several key COVID metrics in recent weeks, with Cook and McHenry counties both dropping to a medium community level of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the Chicago area, Grundy County also dropped to the medium level according to the updated metrics. Kankakee County has continued its recent declines in COVID metrics, falling to a low community level of the virus.

Read more here.

After more than a week of waiting, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finally unveiled its new guidelines for isolation, quarantine and social distancing, but one of the biggest changes involves those who experience more severe symptoms of the virus.

The new guidelines propose different approaches for patients who experience traditional mild symptoms, including fever, cough and other cold-like issues, and those who experience more severe illness, including those who suffer from difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.

Read more here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued changes to its guidelines for COVID isolation and quarantine, changing the recommendations for unvaccinated individuals who were exposed to the virus and offering new advice on how to end isolation and what to do if symptoms return.

Read more here.

With new COVID variants and subvariants behindrising cases in Illinoisand other parts of the country, many are wondering if symptoms are changing as more begin to experience them.

Currently, the BA.5 omicron subvariant accounts for nearly 90% of COVID cases in the United States, according to estimates provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read more here.

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention weighs potential changes to a host of COVID protocols, Chicago Public Schools has announced the tweaks it will make to the districts handling of the virus this fall.

According to Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, CPS will not require students and faculty to be vaccinated against the virus when they return to buildings this fall.

Read more here.

According to the latest estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the BA.5 subvariant of COVID is still continuing to make up a greater share of coronavirus cases, but another variant is slowly gaining steam as well.

Those estimates,released every Tuesday, show that the BA.5 subvariant currently makes up 87.1% of cases in the United States, up from 84.5% a week ago.

See more metrics here.

Health experts have noted that the BA.5 omicron subvariant has led to more symptomatic infections, but could some people still have the virus and not know it?

Chicago's top doctor said the answer to that question is still yes, though she notes that even those with symptoms may mistake them for other illnesses.

Read more here.

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Illinois Coronavirus Updates: FDA Recommends 3 At-Home Tests, COVID Alert Levels Shift - NBC Chicago