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COVID-19 infection rate spikes with 1,317 new cases, 25 additional deaths

With 1,317 new COVID-19 cases Friday, the state's seven-day average infection rate spiked to 2.9%.

That's up from 2.6%, where it had hovered since the end of June.

The new cases were from a batch of 32,987 tests, which results in a single-day infection rate of 4%, the highest one-day rate since early June.

"I am concerned about the increase in cases, but I don't think you can put a lot of stock in a one-day snapshot," said Dr. Jonathan Pinsky, medical director for infection control and prevention at Edward Hospital in Naperville. "You're going to see variability from day to day, so you have to look at trends over a week, at least."

According to metrics the state uses to determine restrictions on gatherings and business operations, Chicago and the suburbs are still well within Phase 4, which is the least restrictive phase before unrestricted reopening.

Illinois is still doing better than hot spot states across the South that have seen an explosion in cases and hospitalizations, Pinsky noted.

"The big picture is we're doing very well in Illinois," he said. "I am concerned that there is more potential for exposure and I'm concerned that people are not being as careful as they used to be.

"There's been an increase in the cases of people in younger age groups and this could potentially have a downstream effect on our vulnerable seniors."

He remains concerned about travel to and from hot spot states. Chicago has ordered anyone coming from 15 states, including Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, to self-quarantine for 14 days. No other municipality has issued a similar decree, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he will leave it to local officials to enact those regulations.

"The story in other states - where hospitalizations and positivity rates are reaching record highs - doesn't have to be the story in Illinois," Pritzker told residents on Twitter earlier in the day. "Our future is in your hands."

The state also announced 25 more Illinois residents had died from the respiratory disease.

The state is now averaging 860 new cases a day over the past week while also averaging 30,158 tests per day, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The last time Illinois was averaging this many new cases each day was exactly a month ago, when the state was also averaging about 9,000 fewer tests per day.

The state's death toll from COVID-19 now stands at 7,144, with 151,767 confirmed cases of the disease.

IDPH is reporting 1,436 COVID-19 patients hospitalized throughout the state, with 306 in intensive care. That's 71 fewer patients statewide than the day before.

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