Illinois health officials reported 40,026 new COVID-19 cases over the past week, along with 45 additional deaths. While cases have increased, deaths declined by one in the last seven days.
The previous week, the state reported 30,633 new and 46 deaths. The week before that, the state reported 24,646 new cases and 46 deaths were reported.
In all, 3,209,341 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the state since the pandemic began, according to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. The additional deaths bring the state to 33,705 confirmed COVID fatalities.
Over the past seven days, the state’s weekly vaccination average dropped to 11,586 doses, per IDPH data. Since last Friday, 81,101 doses were administered across the state.
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More than 22 million vaccine doses have been administered in Illinois since vaccinations began in December 2020. More than 69% of Illinois resident are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with more than 76% receiving at least one dose. About 51% are also boosted.
As of midnight Thursday, 909 patients were hospitalized due to COVID in the state. Of those patients, 87 are in ICU beds, and 25 on ventilators.
Due to the increase in cases across the state, 23 Illinois counties have moved into having a Medium Community Level risk for COVID, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since Chicago moved from "Low" to "Medium" COVID-19 risk, city health officials have been "strongly recommending" that people wear a mask in public, indoor spaces.
As of Thursday, the city of Evanston increased from "Medium" to "High" COVID risk, which is the highest level of alert, according to the CDC.
