Coronavirus In Illinois: Improvements Continue In Positivity Rates And Hospitalizations, But Deaths Still Above Spring Surge
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With the first COVID-19 vaccine already being administered across the state, and a second vaccine on the verge of federal authorization by the end of the week, Illinois is continuing to see improvements in some key coronavirus metrics, although deaths from the virus remain higher than during the first surge of the pandemic in the spring.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 7,123 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, as well as 146 additional deaths.
Since the start of the pandemic, Illinois has reported a total of 870,600 coronavirus cases, including 14,655 deaths.
As of Wednesday, the state's seven-day average case positivity rate is down to 8.5%, the lowest it's been since Nov. 4. The state's positivity rate has largely been trending downward over the past month, after reaching as high as 13.2% on Nov. 13. However it's still more than double the 3.5% positivity rate reported at the start of October.
Meantime, hospitalizations also have been trending downward in recent weeks.
As of Tuesday night, 4,793 coronavirus patients were hospitalized in Illinois, including 1,045 patients in the ICU and 590 patients on ventilators. The state's overall hospitalization numbers are now at their lowest point since Nov. 9.
While hospitalizations have largely trended downward since peaking at 6,175 on Nov. 20, there are still far more COVID-19 patients in the hospital in mid-December than at the start of the fall surge in early October.
Illinois is averaging 5,016 coronavirus hospitalizations per day over the last week, more than triple the average of about 1,500 per day at the start of October. During the first wave of the pandemic, the state peaked at an average of 4,822 hospitalizations per day in early May.
Although the state's positivity rate and hospitalizations have started trending downwards in recent weeks, deaths from the virus have yet to take a clear turn for the better since the start of the fall surge in October.
Illinois is averaging 141 deaths per day over the past week, compared to 111 per day during the peak of the first wave of the pandemic in mid-May.
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