Coronavirus In Illinois: Record 6,363 New COVID-19 Cases; Hospitalizations Continue To Spike
CHICAGO (CBS) -- For the second time in less than a week, Illinois is reporting a record number of new cases of COVID-19, with 6,363 confirmed cases on Thursday, while virus hospitalizations surpassed 3,000 for the first time in more than four months.
It's also the second day in a row the Illinois Department of Public Health has reported more than 6,000 new cases. The previous record for new cases was 6,161, set on Saturday.
Since the start of the pandemic, Illinois has reported a total of 395,458 virus cases, including 9,675 deaths. IDPH reported 56 new deaths on Thursday.
The statewide seven-day average case positivity rate for Illinois stands at 6.9%, the highest its been since June 2, when the rate was 7%.
As of Wednesday night, 3,030 coronavirus patients were being treated in Illinois hospitals, including 643 patients in intensive care, and 269 on ventilators. Those numbers are all the highest they've been since early June.
Eight of the 11 regions in Illinois are now either under enhanced COVID-19 mitigations, or will be by the end of the week, due to rising COVID-19 infections and/or hospitalizations.
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