Chicago Passes 'Omicron Peak' As Coronavirus Cases Drop: Top Doc

CHICAGO – The surge of coronavirus cases driven by the omicron variant has peaked in Chicago, the city's top doctor said.

Public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said coronavirus metrics used for tracking cases, tests positivity, hospital and intensive care unit capacity and emergency room diagnoses have started to decline citywide. The city coronavirus metrics are available online.

"This is a true peak. ... Risk remains high but heading in the right direction," Arwady said.

Arwady said she is "pleased to see this turn around," but warned that coronavirus cases remain at levels that indicate high rates of community spread.

The number of daily cases in Chicago, for instance, peaked on Jan. 4, when 8,553 cases were reported. That was the city's highest number of cases in a single day, Arwady said.

"We are a long way from being out of the woods, and it is really important over the next few weeks and months that we continue to work hard on getting folks vaccinated, getting folks tested, continuing to wear masks because there is a long way to come down," she said at a Wednesday news conference.

Related: Pritzker 'Cautiously Optimistic' Illinois Omicron Peak Has Passed

Chicago Public Schools CEO said the district experienced a spike in coronavirus cases following winter break "as expected."

"We saw an upsurge of cases, it is not a coincidence that those cases came in as the schools were closed. Even with that ... when the city was close to 20 percent [positivity rate], our positivity rate was 5 percent. We have seen that pattern consistently. That when ever you look at our cases, as high as they are, they are always a fraction of the city," Martinez said.

The CEO said seeing declining case numbers, a slight increase in vaccinated students and increased testing and mitigations has him feeling "cautiously optimistic."

So far, about 90 percent of staff and 53 percent of student age 12 and older are fully vaccinated. About 33 percent of 5- to 11-year-old students have received at least one vaccination shot.

Additional CPS coronavirus data is available online.

Despite the good news, Arwady said the "threat is in no way over" and urged Chicagoans to get vaccinated.

"More important than masking, more important than testing, getting vaccinated is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself, your family and get us through this," she said.

This article originally appeared on the Chicago Patch