While more than half of the counties in Illinois remain at an elevated level for COVID-19 hospitalizations according to CDC data, the state’s overall respiratory illness level has decreased in recent weeks and is at Low level in the most recent available data, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced.

The CDC’s latest update of its COVID Data Tracker indicates that as of the week ending Jan. 13, the state of Illinois is at Medium level for COVID-19 hospitalizations for a fourth straight week with a total of 1,393 hospitalizations reported during the week. A total of 54 countie...