COVID-19 In Illinois: New Daily Record For Vaccinations As Positivity Rate And Hospitalizations Keep Falling
CHICAGO (CBS) -- For the second time in three days, Illinois has set a new record for daily COVID-19 vaccinations, as key virus metrics continue to trend downward.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 74,965 doses of coronavirus vaccines were administered on Thursday, bringing the daily average up to 49,082 over the past week.
So far, Illinois has received a total of 2,132,025 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and has administered 1,231,418 doses as of Thursday night. According to IDPH, 272,444 people in Illinois have been fully vaccinated after receiving two doses, or 2.14% of the state's population.
On Friday, IDPH reported 3,660 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases statewide, as well as 83 additional deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, Illinois has reported a total of 1,141,219 cases, including 19,526 deaths.
The state's 7-day average case positivity rate is down to 3.3%, the lowest it's been since Oct. 4, and less than half of the rate reported by IDPH one month ago. The state's infection rate peaked at 13.2% on Nov. 20 during the fall surge, and other than a two-week increase after Christmas, has fallen steadily ever since.
As of Thursday night, 2,318 coronavirus patients were hospitalized in Illinois, including 491 in the ICU and 254 on ventilators. It's the fewest overall COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide since Oct. 19.
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