Illinois COVID spike continued into Thanksgiving weekend

Illinois’ COVID-19 metrics continued their surge into Thanksgiving weekend, according to the most recent reporting from the state’s Department of Public Health.

There were 1,982 individuals in Illinois hospitals with COVID-19 on Tuesday, up 24 from Monday and an increase of 373 from the prior week. It’s the highest number of hospitalizations since 2,008 were reported on Sept. 22.

Of those patients in the hospital with COVID-19, 384 patients were in the ICU, up 59 from the prior week, and 150 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators, up one from the prior week.

IDPH reported 21,034 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 between Nov. 24 and Nov. 19, when the previous weekly numbers were published. The seven-day average for new daily cases on Wednesday was 4,628, up 1,075 from the prior week.

There have now been 1,784,900 cases in the state.

The death toll reached 26,313, after 87 more deaths over that period.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test is 3.3 percent. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity is 4.1 percent.

Numbers were not updated over the extended Thanksgiving weekend. IDPH says updates will resume Monday.

Approximately 67 percent of Illinoisans received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and nearly 61 percent are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A total of 17,031,036 have been administered as of Wednesday. The seven-day average is 64,199 doses.