The state of Illinois hit a significant milestone on Monday, with officials announcing that zero new COVID deaths had been reported for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began last spring.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, there were no new COVID-related fatalities on Monday, marking the first day with zero recorded deaths since March 16, 2020.
That number continues a downward trend in deaths that has been observed by officials since mid-May, when there was a brief upswing in fatalities statewide.
During the month of June, the number of new daily COVID fatalities had regularly remained in the single digits, but the number hadn’t hit zero until Monday.
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There were 16 new deaths reported on Tuesday, the highest number recorded in a day since June 24, according to IDPH data.
In all, 23,272 deaths in the state of Illinois have been officially linked to the novel coronavirus. Another 2,455 fatalities are currently classified as “probable” COVID-19 deaths, according to IDPH data. Nearly 1.4 million confirmed or probable cases of the virus have been reported since the pandemic began, with nearly 26 million tests conducted during the pandemic.
As of Tuesday, nearly 70% of Illinois residents age 12 or older have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, and 54.4% of all residents 12 and older are now fully vaccinated. Among Illinois adults, 72.2% have received at least one dose, while 56.9% are fully vaccinated.
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More than 12.7 million doses of the vaccine have been administered since December.
