Pritzker, Dr. Ezike discuss Illinois' next reopening phase

Officials are working on a new phased reopening plan as the state of Illinois set another vaccination record Monday, with the 7-day average now above 100,000 doses a day.

Illinois Department of Public Health officials reported 782 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 12 deaths on Monday. The increase of 732 new cases is the smallest since July 14 and the first time the state has been under 1,000 since July 21.

The state's top doctor said Monday that Illinois is inching closer to moving out of Phase 4.

"If we are not going to threaten our hospital capacity because people are not getting hospitalized and dying, that's what we think all three of these three vaccines will do: eliminate hospitalizations and deaths. Then we can start moving forward," said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of Illinois' Dept. of Public Health.

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