Health officials in Illinois on Saturday reported 2,678 new coronavirus cases and 25 additional deaths, along with more than 136,000 vaccinations in the past 24 hours.
According to figures from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the 2,678 new confirmed and probable COVID cases reported in the last day brought the state’s total to 1,235,578 cases since the pandemic began last year.
The 25 new deaths lifted the state's death toll to 21,228 fatalities related to the virus, according to health officials.
In the last 24 hours, state health officials say 96,175 new test specimens were returned to state laboratories, bringing the statewide total to 20,068,566 tests performed.
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According to health officials, the seven-day positivity rate on all tests currently stands at 3% while the positivity rate for individuals tested stands at 3.4%.
As of Friday evening, 1,335 Illinois residents were hospitalized due to the virus. Of those patients, 264 were in ICU beds and 115 were on ventilators.
A total of 136,593 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the past 24 hours, IDPH said. The latest figures brought the rolling seven-day average for daily vaccinations to 99,936.
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In all, Illinois has received 6,692,795 doses of the vaccine and, of those, a total of 5,418,211 have been administered across the state.
“Even as we’re getting more and more vaccine doses, we cannot let our guard down, especially with these virulent new strains circulating,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike in a statement this week. “We’ve come so far and are so close to a more normal time, but we’re already seeing some concerning plateaus and even increases in hospitalizations and cases. We’re not out of the woods yet so continue to wear your masks, avoid large crowds, and keep six feet of distance.”
