Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin each broke their own records Friday for the most new coronavirus cases reported statewide in a single day since the pandemic began.
It marks the second day in a row each of the three states have set records in the category as the virus continues to grip the Midwest.
Illinois' daily case total topped 4,000 for the second straight day as the state also reported its highest single-day testing total of the pandemic so far.
The 4,554 new cases mark an increase of 13% over the previous one-day high, which was reported on Thursday.
Illinois also broke its record for the most cases reported in the past seven days, with 22,656 new cases added. That’s the third-highest in the nation, behind only Texas at 28,014 cases and California at 23,601.
While the state saw a record 87,759 tests in the previous 24 hours, the increasing number of cases can't be entirely attributed to the large amount of tests conducted. That's because the 7-day rolling statewide positivity rate also jumped from 4.9% to 5.1% on Friday, continuing a gradual rise and crossing 5% for the first time in several weeks.
At the same time, health officials in Indiana reported 2,328 new cases of coronavirus, the state's first-ever daily total above 2,000.
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While the state has also seen an increase in testing over the last few days, the positivity rate there spiked on Friday, jumping from 5.4% to 5.8% on all tests over the last seven days and from 9.9% to 10.4% on individuals tested.
Indiana is now averaging more new coronavirus cases, per day, than the state ever has before.
Meanwhile, in Wisconsin broke its daily case record for the third time in a week as a surge that began in early September shows no signs of abating.
The state also hit record highs for daily deaths and hospitalizations this week as a third lawsuit was filed arguing that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers had overstepped his authority by issuing public health emergencies and implementing a statewide mask mandate and capacity limits for bars and restaurants.
There were 3,861 new coronavirus cases reported in Wisconsin on Friday by the state Department of Health Services, breaking the previous record set just a day earlier of 3,747.
Wisconsin is now reporting so many daily cases, that it ranks fourth in the country for its seven-day tally of new cases, behind Illinois, which has more than twice its population.
The state’s positivity rate did decrease by one tenth of a percentage point Friday, dropping from 20.8% to 20.7%.
As a result of these two days’ worth of record-breaking numbers in the three states surrounding the Chicago area, more than 20,000 [20,467] have become sick with coronavirus in the past 48 hours.
And in that same 48 hours, in these three states, 174 people have died.
Across the Midwest, similar trends are being reported.
Minnesota health officials reported nearly 2,300 new coronavirus cases Friday, the first time the state has surpassed the 2,000 mark since the pandemic began.
Friday’s case count was 50% higher than the state's last daily record of 1,516 cases set last Saturday. The results came on record-high testing.
North Dakota leads the country with 978 cases per 100,000 residents as of Thursday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, followed by South Dakota at 893 cases per 100,000 residents. Wisconsin ranked fourth at 639, while Iowa was ninth at 432.
Missouri has reached record hospitalization levels several times over the past few weeks, with the latest record of 1,443 being set Wednesday. Data has not yet been released for Thursday or Friday.
