Public health officials on Wednesday reported 7,538 new COVID-19 cases, the state’s second-highest daily case count of the pandemic.
The record high daily count was set on Halloween at 7,899. The next highest tall was 6,980 on Sunday, Nov. 1.
The seven-day statewide positivity rate was 8.5%, up from 8.2% on Tuesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health said.
An additional 55 deaths were reported Wednesday. Illinois has tallied a total of 437,556 cases and 9,933 deaths.
It is the eighth day in a row the state has reported more than 6,000 new coronavirus cases.
As of Wednesday, all 11 of the state’s regions are operating under tighter state-imposed COVID-19 restrictions, which includes bans on indoor services at bars and restaurants.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker was expected to hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss the latest numbers.
“We’re not currently looking at a stay-at-home order, I mean, obviously that’s something that lurks in the background,” Pritzker said Monday. “If we believe these tiered mitigations ultimately are ineffective, if people choose not to wear masks and if the spread of the virus continues to go unabated, in a kind of community spread, we would obviously have to consider, you know, more significant mitigations.”
He didn’t provide specific numbers on what might be the threshold that triggers such a drastic step.
