COVID-19 In Illinois: New Cases Still Falling, But Vaccinations Have Dropped 20% In Past Two Weeks
CHICAGO (CBS) -- While the average number of new COVID-19 cases reported each day in Illinois has been falling for the past couple weeks, daily vaccinations also have been dropping across Illinois.
Illinois is averaging 105,757 vaccinations per day over the past week, down 14% from one week ago, and down 20% from two weeks ago.
The decline comes as Chicago and Cook County have opened their mass vaccination sites for shots on a walk-in basis, and state and local officials have said supply is finally meeting or exceeding demand.
It also comes as new cases of COVID-19 have started to drop, after climbing from mid-March through early April.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,556 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, as well as 23 more deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, Illinois has reported a total of 1,325,726 cases, including 21,858 deaths.
Illinois is averaging 2,706 new cases per day over the past week, an 11% decrease from one week ago. However, cases are still way up from March. So far in April, Illinois is averaging 3,005 new cases per day, up 66% from the same time period in March.
The statewide seven-day average case positivity rate stands at 3.5%, has now been flat or falling for about two weeks.
As of Monday night, a total of 2,180 coronavirus patients were hospitalized in Illinois, including 502 in the ICU and 251 on ventilatos. Illinois is averaging 2,113 hospitalizations per day over the past week, a slight drop (1.2%) from last week, when the state was averaging 2,139 hospitalizations per day. Hospitalizations are also still up significantly compared to March, with Illinois averaging 1,937 hospitalizations per day so far in April, up 64% over the same time period in March.
A total of 3,835,491 people in Illinois have been fully vaccinated, accounting for 30.1% of the population.