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Illinois hospitals report fewest COVID-19 ICU patients yet

Illinois hospitals are reporting the fewest COVID-19 patients in intensive care since state health officials began tracking that figure in early April 2020.

According to Illinois Department of Public Health data released Thursday, just 76 COVID-19 patients were in ICU beds throughout the state.

That's 18% of all 423 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Illinois, IDPH officials reported.

The drop comes after significant increases in hospitalizations the prior two days.

State health officials also announced 24,482 more doses of COVID-19 vaccine have made it into the arms of Illinois residents and workers.

That brings the total number of doses administered statewide to 12,743,061, according to IDPH figures.

Vaccine providers in Illinois are now averaging 17,227 inoculations a day.

Health officials noted 69.9% of the state's vaccine-eligible population of residents 12 and older have received at least one dose. IDPH records also show nearly 85% of the state's population of residents 65 and older have received at least one dose.

Meanwhile, IDPH officials also reported 11 more COVID-19 deaths, along with 617 new cases of the disease diagnosed.

The state's death toll from COVID-19 now stands at 23,289, while 1,394,852 Illinois residents are known to have been infected.

The state's seven-day average case positivity rate is at 1.4%, more than double from a week ago. Case positivity tracks the level of infection within a certain population. It is the percentage of new cases that are derived from a batch of test results. A seven-day average is used to smooth out any anomalies in the daily reporting of those two figures.

Hospitalizations and deaths are lagging indicators in the pandemic. Prior surges in cases have resulted in greater hospitalizations and deaths in the weeks and months that follow. However, that occurred before the vaccine was available, and medical experts are hopeful the immunizations will ward off any significant growth of those metrics.

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