Illinois’ positivity rate continues to fall while almost half of residents 16 and older have received at least one vaccine dose

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,587 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and nine additional deaths Tuesday, and a total of 8,201,830 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered.

For Monday, the state reported administering 81,963 shots. “However, data from Walgreens on the number of doses administered [Monday] is not included due to a technical issue and will be added in tomorrow’s total,” according to a news release from IDPH.

The seven-day rolling average of Illinois’ positivity rate decreased from 4% to 3.8%. The state received the results of 62,406 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday afternoon.

Illinois has seen 1,306,787 total cases of the virus, and 21,694 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 21,839,226 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Tuesday, Illinois had 2,288 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 522 were in intensive care units, and 223 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 Tuesday, IDPH reported a total of 10,162,155 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 8,201,830 vaccines administered.

As of the time this story was published, 3,416,113 of the population of Illinois have been fully vaccinated, or 26.81%. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

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

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

Chicago: 25.10%

Suburban Cook: 27.55%

Lake: 23.99%

McHenry: 23.18%

DuPage: 29.34%

Kane: 23.33%

Will: 23.30%

Kendall: 24.44%

La Salle: 22.00%

Grundy: 25.17%

DeKalb: 21.32%

Ogle: 23.60%

Lee: 25.38%

Whiteside: 24.13%

Bureau: 24.20%

Variant cases increase: The state is also up to 1,585 confirmed variant virus cases, an increase of 151 from Sunday. The state updates confirmed variant cases on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

A majority of the increases came in the B.1.1.7 variant, commonly called the United Kingdom variant. The state is reporting 1,141 cases of B.1.1.7.

There are 328 cases of the P.1 variant, commonly called the Brazilian variant; 97 confirmed cases of the B.1.427/429 variant, commonly called the California variant; and 19 confirmed cases of the B.1.351 variant, commonly called the South African variant.

Bridge update: According to Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan announced March 18, the state needs 70% of Illinois residents ages 65 and older to have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine before it can advance to the state’s “bridge plan” that will open up capacity limits on all businesses. The state’s bridge plan remains on pause because of a continued rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases.

As of Tuesday, 77.13% of those 65 and older had received one dose of the vaccine, according to the state’s dashboard.

Also, according to the state’s dashboard, 49.84% of Illinois residents 16 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

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

For regions experiencing a resurgence of COVID-19, Tier 1 mitigations may be applied in either of these two scenarios:

• If a region’s test positivity rate is greater than or equal to 8% for three consecutive days (measured with the 7-day rolling average).

• If a region experiences both a sustained increase in test positivity rate (measured with the 7-day rolling average for 7 of 10 days) and hospital capacity is threatened, which is measured by either:

A. A sustained increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital (measured with the 7-day average for 7 of 10 days), or

B. Staffed ICU bed availability falls below 20% for three consecutive days (measured with the 7-day rolling average).

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 87 consecutive days below 8% for its COVID-19 test positivity rate. The region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 4.3%. 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 stayed flat at 8.3%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 3.2%.

Hospitalizations have increased four out of the past 10 days in this region.

The West Suburban region (DuPage and Kane counties) has seen 90 consecutive days below 8%. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 6.2%. Currently, 22% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity average went down to 7.5%, and DuPage County’s decreased to 5.5%.

Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region.

The South Suburban region (Will and Kankakee counties) has seen 92 consecutive days below 8%. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 5.9%. Currently, 23% of ICU beds are available.

Hospitalizations have increased eight 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 below 8% for 94 days. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 6.8%.

Currently, 15% of ICU beds are available. Tuesday is the eighth straight day this region is under 20% ICU capacity.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate decreased to 7.2%, Lee County’s rate increased to 1.8%, and Whiteside County’s decreased to 7.3%.

Hospitalizations have increased 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 96 days below 8%. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 6.9%.

Currently, only 17% of ICU beds are available. Tuesday marked the 12th consecutive day the region was under 20%.

Hospitalizations have increased for 10 out of the past 10 days.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to 5.4%.

Chicago has seen 90 consecutive days below 8%. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 5.4%.

Currently, 22% of ICU beds are available.

Suburban Cook County has seen 90 days below 8%. The region’s positivity rate went down to 5.4%.

Currently, 19% of ICU beds are available. Tuesday marked the eighth straight day the region was under 20% ICU capacity. Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 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 male 50s

• Cook County: 1 female 40s, 1 male 50s, 1 male 60s, 1 male 80s

• Madison County: 1 male 60s

• St. Clair County: 1 male 80s

• Tazewell County: 1 female 70s

• Will County: 1 female 60s