Illinois administers another 112,000 vaccines; 1,700 new COVID-19 cases announced

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,700 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 55 additional deaths Thursday, and a total of 3,680,703 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered.

For Wednesday, the state reported administering 112,776 vaccine doses.

The seven-day rolling average of Illinois’ positivity rate decreased from 2.3% to 2.2%. The state received the results of 89,893 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Thursday afternoon.

Illinois has seen 1,204,409 total cases of the virus, and 20,863 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 18,894,652 tests since the start of the pandemic.

The state also updated its confirmed cases of known variants. It increased from 88 confirmed cases to 98 confirmed cases. There are 94 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, also known as the United Kingdom variant. There are two confirmed cases each of the P.1, or Brazlian variant, and the B.1.351, or South African, variant.

As of late Wednesday, Illinois had 1,118 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 231 were in intensive care units, and 102 were on ventilators.

Vaccine update: As of Thursday, IDPH reported a total of 4,903,555 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 3,680,703 vaccines administered.

As of the time this story was published, 1,306,561 of the population of Illinois have been fully vaccinated, or 10.25%. 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:

Chicago: 8.75%

Suburban Cook: 10.28%

Lake: 8.34%

McHenry: 7.01%

DuPage: 10.58%

Kane: 7.54%

Will: 8.20%

Kendall: 10.69%

La Salle: 10.39%

Grundy: 8.42%

DeKalb: 8.08%

Ogle: 9.96%

Lee: 9.58%

Whiteside: 10.14%

Bureau: 9.38%

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.

The North Suburban region (McHenry and Lake counties) has seen 47 consecutive days under 8% for its COVID-19 test positivity rate. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 3.3%. Currently, 35% 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 decreased to 5.2%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 2.7%.

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 50 consecutive days under 8%. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 4.4%. Currently, 31% of ICU beds are available.

The region has 88 consecutive days over the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity average is at 4.5% and DuPage County is at 4.3%.

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 51 consecutive days under 8%. The region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 3.6%. Currently, 37% of ICU beds are available.

The region has 69 consecutive days under the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for nine 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 under 8% for 55 days. The region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 2.6%. Currently, 30% of ICU beds are available.

The region has seen 88 consecutive days above the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate stayed flat at 5.0%, Lee County’s rate decreased to 0.6%, and Whiteside County’s decreased to 1.5%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for eight 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 56 days under 8%. The region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 2.7%.

Currently, 31% of ICU beds are available. The region has 76 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.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to 2.5%.

Chicago has seen 50 consecutive days under 8%. The region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 2.7%.

Currently, 25% of ICU beds are available. The region has 88 consecutive days over the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability.

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

Suburban Cook County has seen 49 days under 8%. The region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 3.2%.

Currently, 26% of ICU beds are available. The region has 69 consecutive days over the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for eight 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:

• Adams County: 1 male 90s

• Alexander County: 1 male 70s

• Bureau County: 1 female 60s

• Cass County: 1 male 70s

• Cook County: 1 female 20s, 1 male 30s, 2 females 40s, 1 female 50s, 2 males 50s, 1 female 60s, 3 males 60s, 4 females 70s, 5 males 70s, 5 females 80s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 males 90s, 1 female over 100

• DuPage County: 2 males 80s

• Edwards County: 1 male 60s

• Fayette County: 1 male 80s

• Grundy County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 80s

• Jackson County: 1 female 70s

• Lake County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 80s

• Madison County: 1 male 70s

• McHenry County: 1 female 20s

• McLean County: 1 male 70s

• Montgomery County: 1 male 60s

• Peoria County: 1 male 80s

• Perry County: 1 female 70s