March 28, 2024

New single-day coronavirus cases at lowest point since Oct. 6 in Illinois

Illinois passes 400,000 residents who have received both COVID-19 vaccine doses

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,631 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 35 additional deaths Sunday, and a total of 1,783,345 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered.

The 1,631 new cases is the fewest in a single day since October 6.

The seven-day rolling average of Illinois’ positivity rate increased slightly from 2.9% to 3.0%. The state received the results of 64,949 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Sunday afternoon.

Illinois has seen 1,162,154 total cases of the virus, and 19,961 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 17,171,858 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Saturday, Illinois had 1,777 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 373 were in intensive care units, and 189 were on ventilators.

To see definitions of key terms used in our COVID-19 updates, read this article titled, “Feeling lost in keeping up with the news?”

Vaccine update: As of Sunday, IDPH reported a total of 2,570,575 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 1,783,345 vaccines administered.

As of the time this story was published, 414,301 people in Illinois have been fully vaccinated, or 3.25%. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

There can be as much as a 72-hour delay in reporting from healthcare providers on vaccines administered.

In northern Illinois, here is the percentage of the population fully vaccinated by county:

Cook: 3.05%

Lake: 2.25%

McHenry: 2.44%

DuPage: 3.64%

Kane: 2.31%

Will: 2.77%

Kendall: 2.90%

La Salle: 3.30%

Grundy: 3.25%

DeKalb: 2.74%

Ogle: 3.39%

Lee: 3.60%

Whiteside: 3.55%

Regional update: Currently, all 11 of the state’s health regions are in Phase 4 of the state’s reopening plan.

Phase 5 in Illinois – all sectors of the economy reopen with businesses, schools, and recreation resuming normal operations with new safety guidance and procedures – comes when “either a vaccine is developed to prevent additional spread of COVID-19, a treatment option is readily available that ensures health care capacity is no longer a concern, or there are no new cases over a sustained period,” according to the state’s Restore Illinois plan.

Regional data from the IDPH remains on a three-day lag.

Confused about the different tiers and phases of the governor’s COVID-19 response? Read how a region can advance through the tiers and into Phase 4 here.

The North Suburban region (McHenry and Lake counties) has seen 14 consecutive days at or under 6.5% for its COVID-19 test positivity rate. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 4.7%. Currently, 34% of ICU beds are available.

The region has never dropped below the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability since tracking began.

Within this region, McHenry County’s seven-day positivity rate average stayed the same at 5.6%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 4.3%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for 10 out of the last 10 days in this region.

The West Suburban region (DuPage and Kane counties) has seen 13 consecutive days at or under 6.5%. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 4.3%. Currently, 28% of ICU beds are available.

The region has 63 consecutive days over the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity average is at 4.9% and DuPage County is at 4.1%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for 10 out of the last 10 days in this region.

The South Suburban region (Will and Kankakee counties) has seen 16 consecutive days at or under 6.5%. The region’s positivity rate increased slightly to 4.9%. Currently, 28% of ICU beds are available.

The region has 45 consecutive days under the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for seven out of the past 10 days in this region.

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties) has maintained a positivity rate of 6.5% or below for 22 days. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 3.5%. Currently, 26% of ICU beds are available.

The region has seen 63 consecutive days above the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate decreased to 3.4%, Lee County’s rate increased slightly to 0.7%, and Whiteside County’s rate decreased to 5.9%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for nine out of the past 10 days in this region.

The North-Central region (Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren, and Woodford counties) has seen 23 days under 6.5%. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 4.3%.

Currently, 30% of ICU beds are available. The region has at least 50 consecutive days over the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability. Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for nine out of the last 10 days in this region.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate stayed the same at 3.6%.

Chicago has seen 17 consecutive days under 6.5%. The region’s positivity rate went down to 3.8%.

Currently, 27% of ICU beds are available. The region has 63 consecutive days over the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for 10 out of the last 10 days in this region.

Suburban Cook County has seen 17 days under 6.5%. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 4.5%.

Currently, 26% of ICU beds are available. The region has 44 consecutive days over the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for 10 out of the last 10 days in this region.

To see how other regions across the state are doing, see the full IDPH dashboard here.

Newly reported deaths include:

- Champaign County: 1 female 80s

- Clay County: 1 female 90s

- Cook County: 1 female 50s, 2 males 50s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 2 females 80s, 4 males 80s, 1 female 90s, 2 males 90s

- DeKalb County: 1 male 80s

- DuPage County: 1 male 90s

- Hancock County: 1 male 70s

- Knox County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s

- Lake County: 2 males 80s

- LaSalle County: 1 female 80s

- Livingston County: 1 female 90s

- McHenry County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s

- Menard County: 1 male 70s

- Pulaski County: 1 female 90s

- St. Clair County: 1 female 90s

- Tazewell County: 1 female 70s

- Whiteside County: 1 female 90s

- Will County: 1 male 60s

- Winnebago County: 1 male 70s

- Woodford County: 1 female 70s

Kelli Duncan

Kelli Duncan

Kelli Duncan is a reporter for the Northwest Herald covering county government as well as the communities of Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Marengo and Harvard. She has previously covered local politics, immigration and feature stories.