Illinois’ coronavirus case and death rates, as well as the statewide case positivity rate, are ticking back up after encouraging falls earlier in the month.
Thursday's report of 8,009 new diagnoses of coronavirus overnight in Illinois is the highest one-day total of new cases in two weeks.
The latest metrics put a stall on the significant fall in average daily cases the state has seen fairly constantly for the last month and a half.
Click here for daily Illinois coronavirus metrics
Thursday's report of 133 new fatalities marks the fifth day in a row that Illinois has lost more than 100 of its residents to coronavirus.
For the past five days, Illinois’ average daily death rate climbed after a drop in daily deaths throughout mid-December.
As of Thursday, the state is averaging 121 deaths per day. That’s an average of 14 more people dying every day from coronavirus than the state's most recent low point of 107 deaths per day, last Saturday. But it isn't near the record of 157 deaths per day, which the state reached on Dec. 8.
The statewide seven-day case positivity rate is going back up as well. On Thursday it returned to 9.0% after spending an entire week in the 8% range and dipping closely to 8.0%, below which health officials are less concerned about case positivity rates.
According to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the state has now reported 963,389 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, along with 16,490 total fatalities.
Over the last 24 hours, 99,426 new tests returned to labs across the state. In all, 13,277,443 tests have been performed during the pandemic, according to IDPH data.
Hospitalizations in the state decreased Wednesday to 4,093 patients receiving care for the coronavirus. The number of patients in intensive care units dropped to 837, while there are currently 496 patients on ventilators in the state due to COVID-19.
