Coronavirus In Illinois: Second Surge Continues With 6,110 New Cases, Continued Rise In Positivity Rate And Hospitalizations
CHICAGO (CBS) -- For the second time in five days, Illinois is reporting more than 6,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, as the second surge of the pandemic shows no signs of slowing.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 6,110 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the second highest daily total so far, only slightly behind Saturday's record of 6,161 new cases. IDPH also reported 51 additional deaths, the fourth highest daily total reported in October, though still well behind the death tolls seen in the first wave, when the state often reported more than 100 daily deaths between April and June.
The new cases announced by IDPH account for 8.6% of the 70,752 new tests reported on Wednesday. The statewide seven-day average positivity rate for Illinois is now at 6.7%, the highest it's been since June 2, when the rate was 7%. The state's average positivity rate has jumped 46% in the past two weeks, from 4.6% on Oct. 14.
Illinois has now reported 4,000 or more cases in a day 10 times in the past two weeks, and is averaging 4,392 new cases per day over that time, compared to 2,452 during the first two weeks of October.
While some of the recent increase in new cases can be attributed to a significant increase in testing since the start of the pandemic, the state's positivity rate has been on the rise for three weeks, and hospitalizations from the virus also have been steadily increasing over the past two weeks.
Since the start of the pandemic, Illinois has reported a total of 389,095 cases of COVID-19, including 9,619 deaths.
As of Tuesday night, 2,861 coronavirus patients were hospitalized in Illinois, including 600 in intensive care and 243 on ventilators. Those numbers are all at their highest 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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