The state of Illinois obliterated its daily record for new confirmed and probable COVID cases on Thursday, reporting more than 30,000 new cases of the virus.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, there were 30,386 new cases of the virus reported within the last 24 hours, by far the most of any 24-hour period in the entirety of the pandemic so far.
The previous record had been set on Dec. 24, when 21,131 cases were reported, according to IDPH data.
In all, 2,149,548 cases have been reported statewide during the pandemic, with more than 128,000 of those cases being reported within the last seven days.
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There were also 87 COVID-related deaths reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the state to 27,821 during the pandemic. Another 3,196 deaths have been classified as “probable” COVID-19 fatalities.
Officials said 196,449 test results were sent to state laboratories in the last 24 hours, with more than 44.4 million tests conducted so far during the pandemic.
The state’s positivity rate on all COVDI tests is now at 10.2%, while the positivity rate on individuals tested is at 14.4%.
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For the first time since last December, more than 1,000 patients are currently in intensive care beds in Illinois, with 1,010 critically-ill COVID patients statewide.
In all, there are 5,689 COVID patients that are hospitalized in the state, with Illinois approaching the all-time record for hospitalizations related to the virus, which was set in Nov. 2020.
