The state of Illinois has set another new high watermark for COVID cases in 2021, with health officials reporting more than 12,000 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus in the last 24 hours.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the state has reported 12,328 new cases of the virus in the last day, the most it has recorded in a single day in 2021.
The 12,328 new cases are the most in a single day since all the way back on Dec. 1, 2020, when 12,542 new cases were reported, according to IDPH data.
The new cases reported Monday also pushed the state beyond another threshold, as Illinois is now averaging more than 10,000 new cases of COVID per day over the last seven days. That is the first time the state has eclipsed that threshold since Nov. 2020, IDPH officials said.
In fact, the average number of new daily COVID cases has gone up by 390% since Oct. 24, according to IDPH data.
The state also set a new yearly record for hospitalizations related to COVID, with 3,960 patients hospitalized because of the virus in the state.
The number of critically-ill patients has also gone up rapidly in recent weeks, with 811 patients now in ICU beds because of the virus.
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In all, the state of Illinois has reported 1,975,515 confirmed and probable COVID cases since the pandemic began last spring.
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The state reported 191,218 new COVID tests returned to laboratories in the last 24 hours, bringing the state to a record high in terms of daily testing. As of Monday, the state is now averaging more than 186,000 test results per day.
State health officials say that more than 42.6 million COVID tests have been performed since the pandemic began.
Even with the increase in testing, the state’s positivity rate also continued its climb over the weekend. The positivity rate on all tests is now at 5.5%, while the positivity rate on individuals tested is at 7.1%.
