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Daily COVID-19 deaths in Illinois hit triple digits for first time since last February

Illinois recorded more than 100 COVID-19 deaths in a single day for the first time since February of last year.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 104 more COVID-19 deaths Thursday, the first time the daily mortality figure has reached into triple digits since Feb. 11, 2021.

Cook County residents made up 28 of the deaths reported Thursday, and the county medical examiner noted portable, cold-storage trailers have been added outside the morgue to handle the latest increase in COVID-related deaths.

Since the outset of the pandemic, 28,260 Illinoisans have died from the respiratory disease, IDPH figures show.

IDPH officials also reported 44,098 new COVID-19 cases were diagnosed, another single-day record. The state is averaging 27,141 new cases a day over the past week, according to state public health records.

Illinois has recorded 2,339,534 infections throughout the pandemic.

State health officials also reported 7,098 COVID-19 patients were being treated in Illinois hospitals, 256 more than the previous day.

Of those hospitalized, 1,119 are in the ICU, a 10.8% increase from a week ago, according to Illinois Department of Public Health figures.

The state's seven-day case positivity rate is now at 14.7%, up from 14.2% the day before. Case positivity is the percentage of new cases derived from a batch of test results, and a seven-day average is used to account for any anomalies in the daily reporting of those figures.

IDPH officials also reported 58,684 more doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered statewide.

That brings the total number of vaccine doses administered across the state to 19,475,871.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting 64.5% of the state's 12.7 million residents are now fully vaccinated. Of those fully vaccinated, 40% have received a booster.

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