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Where does Illinois rank in new COVID infections? And which Midwest neighbor tops the list

And which of our Midwest neighbors tops the list

Illinois ranks 24th lowest among the states for new COVID-19 infections per capita, while nearby Michigan has the highest rate in the nation, federal data showed Tuesday as the Thanksgiving travel season hits.

Illinois recorded 223.2 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the last seven days, compared to Michigan, with 616.3. The lowest-scoring state is Florida, with 50.5 new virus cases per 100,000 people, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Following Michigan for high infection counts were Minnesota at 524.5 new cases per 100,000 over seven days, New Mexico with 470.2, New Hampshire with 455, North Dakota with 437.2, and close to home, Wisconsin at 420.7.

As of Tuesday, however, Illinois' average daily caseload was 3,468.6, or 32.5% higher than 2,340.5 per day in October.

Experts are encouraging people hosting large holiday gatherings to check their guests' vaccination status beforehand and plan accordingly.

"Finding out vaccination status is OK when you're planning a family party," said Dr. Michael Cappello, vice chair of pediatrics at Advocate Children's Hospital in Park Ridge.

"Everyone may not be happy with that, but if you're looking to protect those little ones and the elderly, that's a fair start."

Hosts should plan for socially distanced dining, encourage hand washing, serve buffet-style meals, and consider entertaining outdoors, authorities said.

"Weather depending, ideally you could have a mixture of indoors and outdoors," Cappello said. "An outdoor gathering is less likely to be problematic."

In addition, "if you're not fully vaccinated, you should think about not gathering at the holidays," Chicago Public Health Department Commissioner Allison Arwady said in a tweet. "But if you are going to gather, I would recommend taking a COVID-19 test before to keep the risk for everybody down."

Masking indoors is also advised even if you are vaccinated, experts said.

New cases of COVID-19 reached 4,589 Tuesday, with 17 more deaths from the respiratory disease, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported.

Illinois hospitals were treating 1,958 COVID-19 patients Monday night.

The state's positivity rate for COVID-19 cases is 3.3% based on a seven-day average.

On Monday, 60,514 more COVID-19 vaccine shots were administered. The seven-day average is 63,199.

So far, 7,343,743 people have been fully vaccinated, about 57.4% of Illinois' 12.7 million residents.

Vaccines manufactured by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. require two doses several weeks apart.

The federal government has delivered 19,920,895 doses of vaccine to Illinois since distribution began in mid-December and 16,956,232 shots have been administered.

Total cases statewide stand at 1,779,842 and 26,294 Illinoisans have died since the pandemic began.

Labs processed 109,919 virus tests in the last 24 hours.

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