Health officials in Illinois reported 4,979 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, along with 123 additional deaths attributed to the virus.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Thursday's new cases brought the statewide total number of confirmed cases to 1,086,333 since the pandemic began. The fatalities reported Thursday lifted the death toll to 18,520.
In the last 24 hours, Illinois officials said 99,036 test specimens were returned to state laboratories, putting the state at 15,083,685 tests performed during the pandemic.
The seven-day rolling positivity rate on all tests was 5.4%, while the positivity rate for unique individuals tested is at 6.5% - both down slightly from the day before.
As of Wednesday night, 3,281 patients in Illinois were hospitalized due to coronavirus. Of those patients, 662 were in intensive care units, while 358 were on ventilators.
Also as of Wednesday night, 572,389 vaccines coronavirus vaccines had been administered, including 90,752 for long-term care facilities, according to IDPH. On Wednesday, a total of 34,649 doses were administered.
Parts of the state have begun to lift some of the more stringent COVID-19 mitigations put in place in November amid a second wave of the pandemic. Health officials said Thursday that Region 7, which holds two Chicago-area counties, could drop to Tier 1 mitigations, while Region 6 was headed to Phase 4.
