For the first time in more than three months, Illinois is averaging more than 6,000 new probable and confirmed COVID-19 cases per day, with hospitalizations also beginning to climb across the state.
According to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the state is averaging 6,065 new cases of COVID per day over the last week. That marks the first time the state has eclipsed the 6,000-case barrier since Feb. 9, when Illinois was still descending from the heights of its omicron-driven surge over the winter.
In the last seven days, the state’s daily average of new COVID cases has gone up by 17.7%, according to IDPH officials. In the last month, cases have increased by 174%.
On Monday, Illinois officials reported 5,447 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, with zero new fatalities reported.
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According to IDPH data, the state is still averaging six fatalities per day over the last week.
Although the average number of COVID-related deaths has remained fairly steady, hospitalizations are showing signs of increase as well. As of Monday, there were 996 hospital patients that had tested positive for COVID-19. That marks a 17.7% increase over the previous week, according to IDPH data.
Of those 996 patients, 86 are currently in intensive care unit beds.
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Illinois has not had more than 1,000 COVID patients in hospitals since Feb. 25, but that could soon change based on the daily increases state health officials are seeing.
On the vaccination front, nearly 8.26 million residents over the age of 5 have been fully vaccinated, representing just under 69% of that population in the state.
Illinois is now averaging 12,808 new vaccine doses administered per day, with more than 4.4 million booster shots given out to state residents since they became available last year.
