Illinois coronavirus case positivity rate continues its slow climb

State numbers for COVID-19 shots, new cases and deaths Friday all fell within the recent range, but the statewide test positivity number continued its slow upward climb, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Saturday.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a percent of total tests from March 20 to 26 is 3.0%, up from 2.9% the day before.

The state reported 2,678 new confirmed and probable cases, down from more than 3,000 the day before. And it reported 136,593 doses of vaccine administered, up about 10,000 from Thursday.

The state also reported 25 additional deaths, including six in Cook County, two in DuPage County and five in Will County. The new state pandemic totals are 1,235,578 coronavirus cases and 21,228 deaths.

Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 96,175 specimens for a total of 20,068,566.

As of Friday night, 1,335 individuals were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 264 patients were in the ICU and 115 patients were on ventilators.

The hospitalization number is up a little from 1,302 as of Thursday night, which already had been the most since 1,353 on Feb. 26.

A total of doses of 6,227,895 vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois. In addition, approximately 414,900 doses total have been allocated to the federal government's Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 6,692,795.

A total of 5,418,211 vaccines have been administered, including 366,675 for long-term care facilities. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 99,936 doses.