State public health officials reported 1,747 new and probable cases of the coronavirus Monday as well as 35 deaths, continuing a trend of lower daily case counts at levels Illinois hasn’t seen since early fall.
As of Sunday night, 2,161 people with COVID-19 were reported to be in hospitals. Of those, 469 patients were in intensive care units and 251 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases is 3.3%, health officials said.
Monday’s new cases mark the first time since October the state has seen a daily case count below 2,000. On Oct. 6, the state logged 1,617 new cases.
The 35 deaths reported Monday are the lowest daily toll since Feb. 1, when the state reported 16 deaths. Monday’s figures bring the state’s death toll to 19,668.
State infection rates have been on a steady decline over the past month, with Illinois averaging 2,862 new cases each day through the first week of February. That’s a significant decline from the daily case counts seen during a second wave of the virus in November, when the state recorded a day with 15,415 new cases.
Health officials also reported the state has administered 1,358,967 vaccine doses, including 212,256 to those in long-term care facilities. The 7-day rolling average of vaccines administered per day is 51,794 doses.
