COVID-19 update: 50,326 more shots, 49 more dead, 1,841 new cases

New cases of COVID-19 totaled 1,841 Friday, continuing a seven-day trend of fewer than 2,000 infections a day, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported.

However, 49 more people died of the respiratory disease, the most since March 11, when 55 Illinoisans succumbed to the virus, the IDPH said.

On Thursday, 50,326 more COVID-19 shots were administered. The seven-day average is 72,767.

The federal government has delivered 12,730,155 doses of vaccine to Illinois since distribution began in mid-December, and 10,229,330 shots have been administered.

Of the 49 people who died, 34.7% were age 80 and older, 20.4% were in their 70s, 18.4% were in their 50s or 60s, and 8% were in their 40s.

"For the most part, deaths due to COVID-19 are people who have been in the hospital for many weeks," said Dr. Jonathan Pinsky, Edward Hospital's medical director of infection control and prevention.

"That doesn't necessarily tell you what is going on in real time. They tell you what the situation was a month ago."

COVID-19 infections in Illinois began spiking in late March, and the trend continued through April.

So far, 4,690,335 people have been fully vaccinated - nearly 37% of Illinois' 12.7 million population. Vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna require two doses several weeks apart.

Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 came to 1,708 as of Thursday night, the lowest tally since April 5.

The state's positivity rate for COVID-19 cases is 2.5% based on a seven-day average.

Total cases statewide stand at 1,363,507, and 22,369 Illinoisans have died since the pandemic began.

Labs processed 83,624 virus tests in the last 24 hours.

Bridge Phase

Friday marked the state's shift to a Bridge Phase of reopening where capacities at museums, restaurants and festivals, for example, are increasing. It's the final stage before the state essentially gets back to normal with some pandemic limitations.

The Bridge Phase includes doubling the number of people allowed at festivals, and increasing capacity at offices, fitness centers, museums, and amusement parks to 60%, among other changes.

Suburban Cook County has issued rules specific to dining that allow restaurant capacities to increase to 75% from 50% or 100 people. There is no table size limit for customers who are fully vaccinated, but there is a limit of 10 people for parties that include unvaccinated people.