Illinois’ positivity rate still rising; 9 deaths, 2,727 new coronavirus cases announced

Illinois’ average positivity rate continued to rise Sunday as health officials announced another 2,727 people have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also reported nine more deaths attributed to COVID-19, raising the state’s pandemic death toll to 8,984.

Saturday marked the first time in a month the state’s seven-day positivity rate has hit 4%. That figure, used by health officials to gauge how rapidly the virus is spreading, rose to 4.2% Sunday — nearly a full percentage point more than last week. On Sunday, Oct. 4, the state’s seven-day positivity rate was 3.3%.

Illinois has reported some of its highest daily case totals of the entire seven-month pandemic over the last week, with Sunday marking the eighth day this month the state has recorded 2,000-plus cases. However, that rise can be attributed to the state’s increase in testing capacity. Over the last 30 days, Illinois has administered more than 1.675 million tests, including 64,047 tests processed in the last day.

In total, 319,150 of the more than 6.3 million tests processed by the state have come back positive.

The recovery rate for Illinois coronavirus patients is 96%. Most who contract it show mild or no symptoms.

The number of coronavirus patients in Illinois hospitals ticked slightly upward over the last week, though the state is still well within its hospital bed capacity. As of Saturday night, 1,776 people were hospitalized in Illinois with COVID-19, with 388 of those patients in intensive care units and 159 on ventilators, officials said.