On the streets of Naperville, you still see a significant number of people wearing masks and an almost equal number of those without. When you ask people if they are ready for the mask mandate to be over, you only get one answer. NBC 5’s Charlie Wojciechowski reports.
As COVID cases continue to decline in Illinois, hospitalizations are now at their lowest level since before the delta variant-driven surge that impacted the country in the summer of 2021.
According to the latest data available from the Illinois Department of Public Health, there are currently 1,096 patients in Illinois hospitals that have tested positive for COVID-19. A total of 235 patients are currently in intensive care unit beds, officials said.
Both numbers are at a six-month low, with the state last having seen metrics this low on Aug. 1, according to IDPH data.
Case numbers also continued to decline on Tuesday, with 1,549 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. That number marks the fourth day in a row of fewer than 2,000 new cases, a run that hasn’t been matched since July 2021.
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The state is now averaging 2,184 new cases per day, its lowest daily average since late October.
State officials reported 25 new COVID-related fatalities on Tuesday, bringing Illinois to 32,431 confirmed COVID deaths since the pandemic began. Another 4,085 deaths are listed as “probable” COVID-related fatalities.
The state is seeing fewer tests in recent weeks, with 73,402 new test results returned to laboratories on Tuesday. The state is now averaging just under 112,000 tests per day, with nearly 54 million total tests performed during the pandemic.
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Illinois’ COVID test positivity rate is now down to 2%, while the positivity rate on individuals tested has now fallen to 2.6%.
These declines come as the state prepares to roll back its COVID mitigations, including its masking requirement in businesses and indoor spaces. That rollback will occur on Feb. 28, with the city of Chicago and Cook County both joining in those rollbacks next week.
