The Illinois Department of Public Health announced another 68 COVID-19-related deaths Tuesday, the highest one-day total since June 17 as hospitalizations once again pushed second-wave highs.
The state also reported 6,516 new cases of COVID-19 among 82,435 test results reported, making for a one-day positivity rate of 7.9 percent which drove the seven-day rolling average case positivity rate to 8.2 percent.
As of Monday evening, Illinois hospitals reported 3,594 beds were in use by COVID-19 patients statewide, an increase of 223 from the day before and the highest amount in use since May 28.
Of those patients, 755 were in intensive care beds, which was an increase of 33 from the day prior, the highest since June 5. There were 326 ventilators in use by COVID-19 patients, an increase of 28 from the day prior and the highest one-day total since June 16.
Thus far, the COVID-19 death toll stands at 9,878, with 430,018 confirmed cases among more than 7.9 million test results reported since the pandemic began.
For all regions of the state’s COVID-19 mitigation plan, positivity rates continue to trend upward. Region 1, which includes northwest Illinois from Winnebago County to the state’s western border, had a positivity rate of 15.3 percent, the highest of all regions.
Region 2, which includes Peoria and several surrounding counties, Region 5 in southern Illinois and Region 6 in east-central Illinois all had positivity rates of 9.9 percent, while the rest of the regions were above 10 percent.
Increased mitigation measures are triggered when a region is above 8 percent for three days, and all 11 regions are scheduled to be under such mitigations – which include closure of bars and restaurants to indoor service – as of Wednesday.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
