COVID-19 surge continues in Illinois with 3,629 more cases Saturday, 27 deaths
The surge in new COVID-19 cases in Illinois continued Saturday, as state health authorities reported 3,629 new infections and an additional 27 deaths from the coronavirus.
While down from Friday's record high of 4,554 cases, Saturday's figure is still among the highest daily total since the state began reporting cases in early March.
With the new infections, the state now has reached 339,803 cases, including 9,192 deaths since the outbreak began. Among the deaths reported Saturday were 11 Cook County residents - one of them a woman in her 20s - one DuPage County resident, two Kane County residents, and four Will County residents.
The state's seven-day statewide positivity rate continues to rise, up to 5.2% for the week of Oct. 10-16. The rate sat at 3.3% two weeks ago.
As of Friday night, 2,073 people in Illinois were hospitalized with COVID-19. Of those, 422 were in an intensive care unit and 165 were on ventilators.
State health officials on Friday were warned by the Illinois Department of Public Health for being at risk of further outbreak. They included Kane and McHenry counties, both of which have seen their test rates climb above 8%. "I am deeply concerned," Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a briefing Friday. "We are in a new wave here of COVID-19 - rising cases, rising positivity all across the nation, not just Illinois."