Illinois averaging 8,011 new COVID-19 cases a day, the highest level in a year

The seven-day average number of new COVID-19 cases being reported in Illinois has climbed back over 8,000 for the first time in a year.

The state is now averaging 8,011 new cases a day over the past week, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The last time the seven-day average was over 8,000 new cases was exactly one year earlier, on Dec. 16, 2020, IDPH records show.

The current seven-day new case average also represents a 125% increase over the past month.

IDPH officials reported 11,858 new cases Thursday, the most in a single day since November 2020.

Those new cases were diagnosed from 191,311 test results.

In the suburbs, 4,913 of the new cases diagnosed Thursday were residents of suburban Cook County and the five collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will. That represents 41.4% of all the new cases, IDPH data shows.

Since the outset of the pandemic, 1,933,291 COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed in Illinois residents, IDPH records show.

The state also saw the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized climb to 3,725.

That's up 111 patients from Wednesday.

Over the past month, hospitalizations from the virus in Illinois have climbed 129%.

Of those currently hospitalized, 772 are in intensive care.

IDPH officials also reported 52 more deaths from the virus, bringing the state's death toll from the disease to 27,065.

The state's seven-day case positivity rate is at 4.7%, up from 4.5% the day before.

Case positivity is the percentage of new cases derived from a batch of tests. A seven-day average is used to account for any anomalies in the daily reporting of those figures.

Meanwhile, IDPH officials also reported 81,066 more doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered throughout Illinois.

Since they became available in December 2020, 18,403,106 doses have been administered statewide, IDPH figures show.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting 63.5% of the state's 12.7 million residents are now fully vaccinated.