157 more died of COVID-19 in Illinois

Another 157 people in Illinois died of COVID-19 as the new year began, bringing the state's toll to 16,647.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reporting Friday that cases of the respiratory disease rose by 7,201 in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total to 970,590 since the pandemic began nine months ago.

The seven-day average case positivity rate is 8.1%, marking the fifth consecutive daily increase.

The rate is a key metric health officials use to track the level of new infections. A seven-day rolling average is used to smooth any anomalies in the daily reporting of test results and new cases.

Fifty-eight of the deaths reported Friday were Cook County residents. Fifteen were in DuPage County, 12 in Kane County, four in Lake County, three in McHenry County and three in Will County. Sixty-two others lived downstate.

Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 stood at 4,093. Of those hospitalized, 837 are being treated in intensive care.