Of the 843 COVID-19 deaths Illinois recorded in October, nearly 55% were downstate

In October, state health officials reported 843 COVID-19 deaths in Illinois, an average of 27 per day.

That represents a 17.6% drop from September's 1,023 deaths from COVID-19, Illinois Department of Public Health records show.

Downstate counties were hardest hit.

Of the deaths reported in October, 254 were suburban residents, state records show. That's 30.1% of total COVID-19 deaths for the month, though the suburbs represent 44% of the state's population.

Deaths included 118 people from suburban Cook County, 25 from DuPage County, 30 from Kane County, 27 from Lake County, 17 from McHenry County and 37 from Will County.

Less than 15% of the October COVID-19 deaths were from Chicago, though the city makes up 21% of the state's population.

The remaining 96 downstate counties represent 34.5% of the state's population but recorded nearly 55% of the state's COVID-19 deaths in October.

Health officials say that's largely due to lower vaccination rates in many of those downstate counties compared to Chicago and the suburbs.

The state's COVID-19 death toll now stands at 25,834 after IDPH officials on Monday reported 63 more deaths over the past three days.

Meanwhile, 6,125 new cases were diagnosed since Friday, bringing the total number of statewide infections from the virus to 1,701,649 since the outset of the pandemic.

IDPH officials also reported 1,247 COVID-19 patients were being treated in hospitals throughout Illinois. That's up 4.1% from a week ago, according to department figures. Of those currently hospitalized, 298 are in intensive care.

IDPH officials are also reporting 57.2% of state residents are fully vaccinated.

Additionally, 182,735 more vaccine doses were administered statewide since Friday, a significant increase over the past few weekends due in large part to the availability and accessibility of booster shots for all three vaccine types.

Statewide, vaccine providers have now administered 15,725,525 doses since they first became available in December 2020.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet Tuesday to discuss authorization of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. It is expected to be approved, and doses for that age group could be available as early as Wednesday, some medical officials have said.