As vaccinations rise, COVID-19 case totals continue to decline

New cases of COVID-19 in Illinois remained at levels not seen since the pandemic's earliest days, as the number of residents with at least one dose of vaccine approached 70%, health authorities reported Sunday.

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced 298 new confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus, including 11 more deaths, on Sunday. Four of those deaths occurred in Cook County, and one each was in Lake and Will counties, officials said.

Overall, the state has reported 1,387,595 cases since the outbreak began last year, 23,061 of them fatal.

With an additional 22,917 doses of vaccine administered Saturday, more than 69% of Illinois adults have received at least one shot and 52% are fully vaccinated, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A total of 11,924,966 vaccines have been administered in Illinois.

The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily in Illinois is 41,953, state officials said.

As of Saturday night, 625 coronavirus patients in Illinois were in a hospital, down from 684 Friday night. Of those patients, 180 were in intensive care and 93 were on ventilators.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases remained below 1% - at 0.9% - for a second consecutive day.