State sees 2nd-highest number of test results in a single day, and only 1.7% were positive
Illinois recorded the second-highest number of COVID-19 test results in a single-day Friday, and just 1.7% of them resulted in new cases of the respiratory disease.
Illinois Department of Public Health figures indicate 174,084 test results were returned, showing just 2,942 new cases.
Health officials use those two figures to determine the state's seven-day case positivity rate, which dipped slightly Friday to 2.1%. Case positivity is the percentage of new cases derived from a batch of tests, and a seven-day average is used to smooth any anomalies in the daily reporting of those figures.
On Sept. 30, IDPH received the results of 180,411 COVID-19 tests, the most in a single day.
More than 300,000 tests results have been returned over the past two days, IDPH records show.
IDPH official also reported 22 more COVID-19 deaths Friday.
That brings the state's death toll from the virus to 25,948, with 1,712,986 infections reported since the pandemic began.
State health officials also reported 1,257 COVID-19 patients were being treated in Illinois hospitals.
Of those hospitalized, 282 are in intensive care, according to Illinois Department of Public Health records.
Both hospitalization figures are up slightly from the previous day.
Meanwhile, 52,757 more doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered statewide.
So far, Illinois vaccine providers have administered 15,911,477 doses, IDPH figures show.
More than 57.4% of the state's 12.7 million residents are fully vaccinated.
Children continue to make up a large segment of the new cases statewide, particularly those who are ages 5 to 11, a group authorized this week to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to IDPH data, more than 30% of Friday's new cases were children 17 and younger. Half of the new cases among children were kids ages 5 to 11.
Most vaccine providers have begun taking appointments for children in that age group. To find a vaccine provider near you, visit vaccines.gov.