The state of Illinois crossed several thresholds on Wednesday, once again breaking the 2021 record for daily COVID cases and reporting its two millionth coronavirus case since the pandemic began.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the state recorded 16,581 confirmed and probable cases of COVID in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day total so far this year.
The number is also the second-highest single-day COVID case number since the start of the pandemic, falling short of the 17,608 cases that were recorded on Nov. 5, 2020.
Wednesday’s new case numbers continued an upward trend in the average number of new cases per day, with the state now averaging 11,561 coronavirus cases per day over the last week.
In all, the state of Illinois has reported 2,002,360 confirmed and probable cases of COVID during the pandemic.
The state crossed the one-million case barrier on Jan. 7 of this year.
In the last 24 hours, the state has reported 66 additional deaths attributed to COVID-19. In all, 27,357 fatalities have been linked to the virus since the pandemic began, with another 3,125 deaths currently classified as “probable” COVID-19 fatalities.
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The state has now performed nearly 43 million COVID tests during the pandemic, with 199,406 returned to state laboratories in the last 24 hours.
The state is now averaging 193,450 COVID tests per day, the highest number recorded during the pandemic.
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The positivity rate on all tests now stands at 6% statewide, with a positivity rate of 7.9% on individuals tested, according to state health officials.
The state is currently reporting 4,178 hospitalizations related to COVID, the highest number recorded in the state since Dec. 30, 2020. Of those, 867 patients are in intensive care units, the highest number reported statewide since Dec. 29, 2020.
Approximately 11% of the state’s staffed ICU beds are currently open, with 19% of the state’s hospital beds available.
