Statewide COVID-19 positivity rate continues to drop
The graph shows the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported each day by the Illinois Department of Public Health. (Credit: Jerry Nowicki of Capitol News Illinois)
Some counties begin Phase 1B of vaccine distribution
By GRACE BARBIC
Capitol News Illinois
gbarbic@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – The statewide seven-day rolling COVID-19 case positivity rate decreased slightly on Thursday to 6.8 percent, remaining below 8 percent for a sixth consecutive day.
The rate dropped from 7.3 percent the day prior. The Illinois Department of Public Health on Thursday reported 6,652 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in the state, with an additional 88 deaths. The state has reported 1,052,682 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and 17,928 deaths across the state’s 102 counties.
The state reported 118,036 test results over the previous 24 hours, more than 40,000 more than in Wednesday’s report and the most since Friday, Jan. 8.
The state has now reported 14.4 million test results since the pandemic began.
As of Wednesday night, there were 3,511 patients in the hospital with COVID-19 and 742 patients in intensive care unit beds, a decrease of seven from the day prior. That left 23.2 percent of ICU beds available in the state.
There were 382 COVID-19 patients on ventilators, a decrease of four from the day prior.
As of Wednesday night, approximately 972,750 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been reported delivered to the state. Of the total delivery, 704, 225 doses were delivered to private and public health providers across the state’s 102 counties.
The remaining 268, 525 doses were allocated for the federally mandated Pharmacy Partnership program for long-term care facilities.
While some communities have been able to transition into the next phase of vaccine distribution, Gov. JB Pritzker has not yet determined when the next phase will be statewide.
Pritzker is expected to make a formal announcement yet this week as to when the entire state can begin vaccinating in Phase 1B.
Phase 1A, which includes health care workers and long-term care facility residents, is still continuing. But some counties have started vaccinating in Phase 1B, which includes non-health care essential workers and residents over the age of 65.
Approximately 414, 296 vaccines had been administered, including 51,891 vaccines administered for long-term care facilities, as of Wednesday night. Health care providers have up to 72 hours after administering a vaccination to report the data according to federal guidelines, so the number of vaccines reported administered lags behind the number of vaccines reported distributed.
The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 26,703 doses.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.