Illinois reports 2nd highest single-day number of new COVID-19 cases, surpasses two million total cases

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 16,581 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the second-highest single-day number since the start of the pandemic.

With the new cases, Illinois has now reported over two million total COVID-19 cases, at 2,002,360.

Wednesday’s case total is only surpassed by the 17,608 cases reported on November 5, 2020

The death toll is 27,357 after 66 more deaths were reported Wednesday.

The seven-day average for new cases is 11,561, up 3,915 from a week ago. The seven-day average for daily deaths is 49, up six from the prior week.

As of Tuesday, 4,178 Illinoisans were in the hospital with COVID-19, up 170 from Monday and up 564 from the prior week. It’s the highest number of hospitalizations since 4,244 were reported on Dec. 29, 2020.

Of the patients in the hospital, 867 were in the ICU, up 22 from Monday and up 108 from the prior week. There were 451 patients on ventilators, up 13 from Monday and up 69 from the prior week.

The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a percent of total tests is 6 percent. The seven-day statewide test positivity using the number of COVID-19 positive tests over total tests is 7.9 percent.

About 76.1 percent of eligible Illinoisans ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 67.9 percent are fully vaccinated.

Illinois vaccinators have administered 18,775,064 COVID-19 vaccines, per state data. The seven-day average of doses administered is 66,113. A total of 2,838,285 booster doses have been administered.