COVID-19 In Illinois: New Cases And Hospitalizations Still Falling, Even As Vaccination Rate Has Been Cut In Half Since Mid-April
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Illinois is continuing to see steady declines in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks, despite the statewide vaccination rate having been cut in half since mid-April.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,321 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases on Friday, as well as 36 more deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, the state has reported a total of 1,351,497 cases, including 22,171 deaths.
Illinois is averaging 2,349 new cases per day over the past week, down 13% from one week ago, and a 17% decline from two weeks ago.
The statewide seven-day average case positivity rate stands at 3.1%, down from a peak of 4.4% on multiple days last month.
As of Thursday night, a total of 1,977 coronavirus patients were being treated in Illinois hospitals, including 464 in the ICU and 239 on ventilators. Overall hospitalizations have dropped three days in a row, and Illinois is averaging 2,006 hospitalizations per day over the past week, a 4% drop from one week ago, and down 8% from two weeks ago.
Meantime, daily vaccinations are still dropping sharply. Illinois averaged 65,750 vaccinations per day over the past week, the lowest average since Feb. 23. The vaccination average has dropped 29% over the past week, 45% over the past two weeks, and 51% from the peak of 132,979 per day on April 12.
A total of 4,334,906 people in Illinois have been fully vaccinated as of Thursday night, accounting for 34.02% of the population.
