Health officials on Saturday announced 10 more Illinois deaths have been attributed to COVID-19, the state’s lowest number of coronavirus deaths announced in a single day since March 30.
The virus has claimed 7,014 lives since the state’s first death was confirmed March 17, but Illinois has seen some of its lowest daily tolls over the last two weeks as the state’s pandemic curve appears to be flattening while outbreaks in other states flare to record highs.
Illinois’ worst coronavirus day came May 13 with 192 deaths, the apex of a peak month that saw an average of about 100 COVID-19 deaths per day. The death rate was about half that in June.
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The Illinois Department of Public Health also announced Saturday that 862 more people tested positive for the virus. That’s higher than the average of about 703 cases announced per day over the last 20 days, but it has been nearly a month since the state last topped 1,000 cases in a single day (June 5).
Illinois’ biggest single-day case jump was 4,014 on May 12. Florida almost tripled that figure with its latest daily record Saturday: 11,458 new cases. Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday imposed a 14-day quarantine order for anyone traveling to Chicago from that state and other coronavirus hotspots. That quarantine order goes into effect Monday.
A total of 146,612 people have tested positive for the virus in Illinois since late January, with cases confirmed in every county in the state and patients ranging in age from infancy to over 100.
An additional 210 deaths and 1,122 infections are considered to have been probable but untested coronavirus cases.
The state’s recovery rate is about 94%, but a particularly devastating impact has been felt at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. They account for more than half the death toll (3,856) and 16% of all cases (22,833).
The latest batch of positive cases were confirmed among almost 34,000 tests administered, for a positivity rate of about 2.5%. The state’s rolling positivity rate over the last week is 2.6%.
