The coronavirus has spread to 9,469 more Illinois residents and claimed 125 more lives across the state, public health officials said Tuesday.
The latest cases reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health were detected among 97,323 tests, decreasing the statewide testing positivity rate over the last week to 10.4%, its lowest point since Nov. 7.
Tuesday’s caseload, while still more than double the state’s springtime high, also marked the first time in almost three weeks that Illinois has logged fewer than 10,000 cases for two consecutive days.
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But officials are worried that potentially superspreading in-person Thanksgiving celebrations will wipe out any marginal progress the state might be making in tamping down its violent resurgence.
“People can still change their plans and change the outcome,” Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said Monday. “Please reconsider your plans and see if we can be part of the solution to decrease infections, instead of part of the plan to increase them.”
Any slight signs of improvement don’t do much to ease the burden on the state’s hospitals, which were caring for 6,134 coronavirus patients as of Monday night. That’s down slightly from an all-time high of 6,175 beds occupied last weekend.
Hospitals have been treating at least 6,000 COVID-19 patients for six straight nights. That number topped 5,000 only once during the state’s first surge in the spring.
Of those currently admitted, 1,203 patients are receiving intensive care and 668 are using ventilators, officials said.
As a result of the unprecedented surge in coronavirus hospitalizations, daily death numbers have been on the rise for over a month. The latest 125 victims included 61 Chicago-area residents.
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With 1,929 coronavirus deaths so far this month, the state has averaged about 81 deaths per day. That’s up more than double from 34 per day this time last month.
Since March, nearly 10 million coronavirus tests have been administered in the state, with about 674,000 people confirmed to carry the virus and 11,677 of those people dying.
