coronavirus illinois

Illinois Sees Record Daily Cases, Tests as Positivity Rate Rises and State Crosses 400K Case Total

Friday's new cases mark only the third time the state has reported a single-day total of nearly 7,000

NBCUniversal Media, LLC

Illinois health officials reported the state's highest number of daily coronavirus cases and tests of the entire coronavirus pandemic so far on Friday with nearly 7,000 cases and more than 95,000 tests, but the positivity rate continues to rise.

According to data released by the Illinois Department of Public Health, the state saw 6,943 new cases, a number higher than daily totals reported during the coronavirus peak earlier this year.

There were also an additional 36 deaths reported in the state Friday.

The new cases mark only the fourth time the state has reported a single-day total above 6,000. The new numbers bring the statewide total over 400,000 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.

The new fatalities bring the state’s death toll to 9,711, according to state data.

A total of 83,056 new tests were performed over the last 24 hours, with 7,542,098 performed during the pandemic.

The state’s seven-day positivity rate, on a steady rise for nearly all of October, increased from 6.9% to 7.3% Friday, marking the highest it has been since at least early June.

IDPH noted that this number is calculated as total cases over total tests. The state health department also noted the preliminary test positivity number, which is the number of positive tests over total tests, rose from 8.2% to 8.5%.

"Case positivity and test positivity rate are both relevant and offer insight into the bigger COVID-19 picture. Case positivity helps us understand whether changes in the number of confirmed cases is due to more testing or due to more infections.  Whereas, test positivity accounts for repeated testing and helps us understand how the virus is spreading in the population over time," IDPH said.

Hospitalizations increased again as well, health officials said, with 3,092 patients currently hospitalized due to COVID-19. Of those patients, 673 are in intensive care units, while 288 are currently on ventilators.

Friday's metrics were announced as several counties - making up 10 of the state's 11 healthcare regions- are set for enhanced mitigations, many of which took effect this week or will begin this weekend across the Chicago area.

Those mitigations include the shutdown of indoor dining and bar service as well as the limiting of group sizes to 25 people, among other changes.

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