COVID-19 cases, deaths decline on average after state's reopening
COVID-19 infections have declined since the state dropped most pandemic restrictions June 11, although that tally ticked up in the last seven days, Illinois Department of Public Health data indicated Monday.
New COVID-19 cases in June average 321 a day, a steep drop from May's daily count of 1,520. From June 12 through Monday, that average was even lower at 244 new infections a day. However, from June 22 through Monday the daily case count inched up to 248.
Meanwhile, daily COVID-19 vaccinations shot up to 96,042 on Saturday, similar to highs this spring, only to plummet to 8,556 on Sunday. On Friday, the state recorded 76,362 inoculations. The seven-day vaccination average is 43,219. The state does not update its COVID-19 data on weekends.
New cases of COVID-19 totaled 299 on Saturday, 177 on Sunday and 271 Monday, IDPH records showed. In May, patients with COVID-19 in Illinois hospitals came to 1,600 a day on average. That also has dropped in June with a total of 611 average hospitalizations a day. Since June 12, hospitalizations for COVID-19 have averaged 500 patients daily.
COVID-19 hospitalizations were 435 on Friday, 412 on Saturday and 433 on Sunday.
The number of Illinoisans dying from the respiratory disease also slowed month over month. In May, the average number of deaths a day was 28; that number was halved in June with 14 fatalities a day on average. From June 12 through Monday, COVID-19 fatalities have averaged about 11 a day.
There were eight deaths reported Saturday, seven on Sunday and five on Monday.
The federal government has delivered 14,214,485 doses of vaccine to Illinois since distribution began in mid-December, and 12,541,077 shots have been administered.
So far, 6,135,208 people have been fully vaccinated - or 48.1% of Illinois' 12.7 million population - according to the IDPH. Vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna require two doses several weeks apart.
More than 71% of Illinoisans have received at least one or more shots, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
The state's positivity rate for COVID-19 cases is 0.7% based on a seven-day average.
Total cases statewide stand at 1,391,179, and 23,219 Illinoisans have died since the pandemic began.