Illinois COVID-19 hospitalizations drop below 2,400

For the first time since November, there are fewer than 2,400 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Illinois.

State health officials Thursday reported 2,380 COVID-19 patients were being treated in Illinois hospitals, down 28.8% from a week ago.

It's the fewest COVID-19 patients statewide since Nov. 29, 2021.

Of those currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 432 are in intensive care, according to Illinois Department of Public Health records. That's down 24.5% from a week ago.

Less than 15% of all ICU beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients, IDPH figures show. Less than a month ago, nearly 40% of ICU beds were COVID-19 patients.

IDPH officials also reported 116 more Illinois residents died from the virus, while 5,419 new cases were diagnosed.

That brings the state's death toll from COVID-19 to 31,795, with 2,987,502 infections recorded statewide since the outset of the pandemic.

The state's seven-day case positivity rate is at 4.5%, down from 4.9% Wednesday. Case positivity is the percentage of test results that yield a new case of the disease. A seven-day average is used to account for any anomalies in the daily reporting of those figures.

The seven-day case positivity rates in each suburban county as well as the suburban portion of Cook County are all below 10% again.

IDPH officials are also reporting 28,060 more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered statewide.

Vaccine providers in Illinois have now administered 20,803,108 doses since December 2020.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting 66.7% of the state's 12.7 million residents are now fully vaccinated.

Of those fully vaccinated, 48% have received a booster dose.