Illinois surpasses 20,000 COVID-19 deaths

More than 20,000 Illinois residents have now died from COVID-19, Illinois Department of Public Health officials announced Monday.

IDPH officials reported 41 more deaths from the respiratory disease, bringing the state's confirmed death toll to 20,002 since the outset of the pandemic.

Health officials believe another 2,164 Illinois residents have likely died of the disease as well, but don't have test results confirming those infections. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counts those probable deaths among the others confirmed to have died from the virus.

Additionally, 1,420 new cases of the disease were listed Monday. Throughout the pandemic, 1,163,574 Illinois residents have been infected.

The virus has killed 1.9% of those who were infected by it in Illinois. It's been deadlier in only 11 other states, according to CDC records.

The state's seven-day average case positivity rate is at 2.9%. Case positivity allows health officials to track the level of spread in certain populations. A seven-day average is used to smooth out any anomalies in the daily reporting of new cases and test results.

Hospitalizations statewide are at levels last seen in October. The IDPH shows 1,789 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infections. Of those hospitalized, 389 are in intensive care.

Meanwhile, 39,863 people received a dose of the vaccine Sunday, according to IDPH records.

That brings the total number of inoculations in Illinois to 1,823,208 since the vaccine rollout began in mid-December. IDPH figures show 422,419 Illinoisans are now fully vaccinated against the virus after receiving the second dose of the vaccine's two-dose regimen.