Illinois COVID-19 update: Daily fatalities lowest in months
Illinois hit a single-day low for COVID-19 fatalities not seen since September with five more deaths from the respiratory disease, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Monday, as new cases reached 1,182.
So far, 1,152,020 people - 9.04% of the state's population, or one out of every 11 Illinoisans - have been fully vaccinated. Vaccines manufactured by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. require two doses several weeks apart.
As of Monday, 20,767 Illinoisans have died of COVID-19. Although virus statistics can be low after a weekend because of delayed reporting, the tally of five fatalities represents a decline since January, the third-deadliest month of the pandemic.
The daily average of Illinoisans perishing from COVID-19 is nearly 32 for March compared to 46 people a day in February and 89 in January.
On Sunday, 29,564 more people received COVID-19 shots compared to the seven-day average of 90,135.
The federal government has delivered 4,268,375 doses of vaccine to Illinois since distribution began in mid-December and 3,387,778 shots have been administered.
Two suburbs holding mass vaccinations Monday included Aurora, which repurposed an empty Carson Pirie Scott building, and Itasca.
"The demand for COVID-19 vaccinations is extremely high, and while the supply is not adequate, we have had to be resourceful to provide for our residents," Aurora Mayor Richard C. Irvin said in a statement. About 2,400 shots were given at the site.
Also, a total of 800 seniors, with an average age of 74, attended the Itasca Park District's mass inoculation event. One participant had registered on 18 different vaccine websites with no luck previously, said Executive Director Maryfran Leno.
"Everyone was so thankful and appreciative," Leno said, adding 1,000 people are still on a waitlist. "Two people couldn't get out of their vehicles so we brought the vaccines to them."
Illinois hospitals were treating 1,178 COVID-19 patients on Sunday night.
The state's positivity rate for COVID-19 cases is 2.3% based on a seven-day average.
Total cases statewide stand at 1,199,517 and labs processed 39,636 virus tests in the last 24 hours.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control released guidelines Monday for how people who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 can safely gather with others.
Edward Hospital's medical director of infection control and prevention Jonathan Pinsky noted that "the time to become fully vaccinated doesn't start until two weeks after you get the second dose of a two-dose vaccine or after two weeks of a one-dose vaccine," such as Johnson & Johnson's.
"Some people are thinking they can just get the shot and then the next day they're OK - no," Pinsky said.
One CDC recommendation notes that fully vaccinated people may visit indoors with others who also have been fully inoculated for COVID-19 without masks or staying 6 feet apart.
But even fully vaccinated people should take precautions like wearing face coverings when in public, officials warned.