Illinois health officials on Wednesday reported 2,862 new coronavirus cases and 49 additional deaths over the last 24 hours as Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned that all of the state's 11 health care regions have seen an increase in testing positivity rates.
According to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Wednesday's figures bring the state’s totals to 327,605 cases and 9,074 deaths since the pandemic began.
Nearly 53,000 tests were reported Wednesday, bringing the state's seven-day positivity rate to 4.6%.
As of Tuesday night, 1,974 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 390 patients were in the ICU and 153 patients were on ventilators.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that the latest figures indicate the state is moving in a "concerning direction."
"Unfortunately, all 11 regions have seen an increase in positivity compared to where we were at last week’s update. Statewide, our positivity rate has grown by more than one full percentage point in the last week alone. And in most regions, COVID-like hospital admissions have increased in the same time period," he said during a news conference.
"To date, Illinois has had relative success in keeping this virus at bay, and we’re still doing better than many of our neighbors, but we can’t let up – and these numbers are indicating a concerning direction," he continued.
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"We are seeing changes in positivity averages around the state level off, with three regions that were decreasing last week now sitting at a stable level," he said during a virtual update last Wednesday.
Still, on Friday state health officials loosened the stricter mitigations that had been in place for weeks in Region 4, allowing the area to return to phase four guidelines Friday afternoon as positivity rates declined there.
