Coronavirus In Illinois: Daily Cases Surpass 2,000 Again, Illinois Reaches New Testing Milestone
CHICAGO (CBS) -- For the second day in a row, and only the second time since late May, Illinois is reporting more than 2,000 new cases of COVID-19.
The Illinois Department of Public Health on Saturday announced 2,190 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 18 additional deaths. The announcement comes on the heels of 2,084 new cases announced Friday, the first time Illinois had surpassed 2,000 daily cases since May 24, when IDPH reported 2,508 infections.
Since the start of the pandemic, Illinois has reported a total of 192,698 virus cases, including 7,631 deaths.
IDPH also reported the state's second-highest daily testing total on Saturday, with Illinois laboratories reporting 48,016 tests in the past 24 hours, for a one-day positive test rate of 4.6%. The seven-day statewide positive test rate for the past week is up to 4.2%, compared to 3.6% two weeks ago, and 2.5% in early July.
With the latest batch of tests, Illinois also has surpassed 3 million tests since the start of the pandemic.
The state's daily case rate has been steadily climbing in recent weeks, after seemingly plateauing from late May through late June.
So far, the vast majority of COVID-19 patients have recovered from the disease, with a 95% statewide recovery rate as of Saturday. The state's recovery rate calculates the number of people who have tested positive for the virus, and have survived at least 42 days after their test.
As of Friday night, 1,538 virus patients were being treated in Illinois hospitals, including 338 in intensive care and 125 on ventilators.