COVID by the Numbers: Illinois Sets Single-Day High for New Coronavirus Cases in 2021

The state of Illinois reported nearly 12,000 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the largest single-day increase in new cases in more than a year.

According to the latest figures from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the state recorded 11,858 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in the last day.

That number is the largest the state has seen in a single day since Dec. 1, 2020, when 12,542 new cases were reported to state health agencies.

The previous high watermark for 2021 had been set just two weeks ago, when 11,524 new cases were reported on Dec. 2.

The state also hit another inauspicious milestone on Thursday, as it is now averaging more than 8,000 new cases of the virus per day over the last week. That marks the first time the state has seen that number of new cases since Dec. 15, 2020, according to IDPH data.

With Thursday’s new cases, the state has now reported 1,933,291 cases of the virus since the pandemic began last year.

Illinois officials reported 52 new COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the statewide total to 27,065 during the pandemic, with another 3,070 deaths currently classified as “probable” COVID-related fatalities.

The state reported 191,311 new COVID test results returned to state laboratories in the last 24 hours, with Illinois now averaging nearly 172,000 COVID tests per day over the last week.

Hospitalizations are also approaching their highest levels of 2021, with 3,725 Illinois residents currently hospitalized because of COVID-19. That marks the highest number of hospitalized COVID patients in the state since Jan. 6, according to IDPH.

Of those patients, 772 are currently in intensive care unit beds, the highest number the state has seen since Jan. 6 of this year. A total of 391 patients are on staffed ventilators as of Thursday morning.  

Just 9% of the state’s intensive care unit beds are currently available, according to IDPH data.