Health officials in Illinois reported 3,739 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus over the last 24 hours, with 34 additional deaths attributed to the virus.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Thursday's new cases brought the state to 1,269,196 since the pandemic began last year. The number of new cases has continued to rise in recent weeks in the state, with some officials fearing that a new surge could be taking place even as vaccinations continue to rise.
Thursday's 34 additional deaths brought the state to 21,457 confirmed COVID fatalities during the pandemic.
In the last 24 hours, 97,741 coronavirus test specimens were returned to state laboratories, with more than 20.9 million now conducted during the pandemic.
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The statewide positivity rate rose Thursday, with 4.2% of all tests returning positive results. The positivity rate for individuals tested in the last seven days also rose to 4.8%, according to IDPH data.
The state reported 154,201 vaccinations administered in the last day, according to the latest data. Thursday's vaccinations brought the seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered to 112,680 doses.
As of Thursday, the state has administered nearly 6.7 million doses of coronavirus vaccine during the pandemic, while receiving 8,642,545 doses.
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As of midnight, 1,798 patients are currently hospitalized due to COVID, with numbers very gradually ticking upward over the last month. Of those patients, 351 are in ICU beds and 151 are currently on ventilators in the state.
