The number of new coronavirus cases reported in Illinois over the past week has reached three times what it was at the pandemic's low point across the state in late June, according to public health data released Wednesday.
Health officials in Illinois reported 2,295 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, as the rolling positivity rate continued to gradually increase and the state set a new record for single-day testing, performing more than 50,000 tests in 24 hours for the first time since the pandemic began.
That nearly 2,300 new cases brought the statewide total to 211,889 confirmed cases, health officials said.
It also brought the total number of cases reported in the past seven days to 13,296, data shows. That same figure, the seven-day total number of cases, hasn't been above 13,000 since late May.
The seven-day total peaked at 17,957 cases reported in the week leading up to May 4, data shows, and continued to hover around that mark through mid-May before beginning to fall. Illinois reported 13,148 new cases in the week leading up to May 28, similar to the numbers reported as of Wednesday - only in May, the state was trending downwards.
Numbers continued to fall through June, with the seven-day total reaching just 4,186 new cases reported in the week leading up to June 23. That marked the lowest point in reported cases before Illinois' numbers began to climb once again.
Cases have climbed - which can be attributed in part to increases in testing capacity as well as spread of the virus - to the point where Wednesday's seven-day total of 13,296 cases is more than three times that low point reported on June 23.
Local
While Illinois is testing more people than ever, the high number of cases reported Wednesday can't be explained solely by that, as the state also reported another increase in its positivity rate. The rate ticked up to 4.4% on Wednesday, health officials say, increasing by one-tenth of a point each day for the past four days in a row.
