COVID-19 In Illinois: Infection Rate Continues To Drop; State Reports Fewest Hospitalizations In More Than 6 Weeks
CHICAGO (CBS) -- New infections from COVID-19 continue to drop in Illinois, which has seen a sharp decline in new cases over the past few weeks, while hospitalizations have also reached a six-week low.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,495 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases on Tuesday, as well as 21 more deaths.
Illinois is averaging 1,537 new cases per day over the past week, a 41% decline from two weeks ago.
Since the start of the pandemic, Illinois has reported a total of 1,368,709 cases, including 22,466 deaths.
The statewide seven-day average case positivity rate in Illinois is down to 2.3%, the lowest it has been since March 17.
As of Monday night, a total of 1,503 coronavirus patients were hospitalized in Illinois, including 407 in the ICU and 234 on ventilators. It's the fewest overall daily hospitalizations in Illinois since April 3.
Illinois is averaging 1,650 hospitalizations per day over the past week, a 19% drop from two weeks ago.
Meantime, Illinois reported only 25,936 vaccine doses were administered on Monday, but officials said the server that pharmacies use to report vaccinations was experiencing delays, and some shots given out on Monday have not yet been reported. The problem has been fixed, and those doses should be included in Wednesday's data from IDPH.
However, vaccinations are still trailing far behind the April peak. As of Sunday night, Illinois was averaging 61,275 doses per day over the past week, down 25% from one week earlier, down 22% from two weeks earlier, and down 54% from the peak on April 12.
IDPH said a total of 4,822,723 people in Illinois have been fully vaccinated, or 37.85% of the population.