Officials report 625 new coronavirus cases, Illinois’ lowest daily count since late March

Health officials on Wednesday announced an additional 78 people have died of COVID-19 in Illinois and another 625 have tested positive statewide.

That’s the lowest number of new cases reported by the state in a single day since March 30, when the state reported 461 cases before the brunt of the pandemic gripped Illinois.

The latest figures from the Illinois Department of Public Health raise the state’s coronavirus death toll to 6,095, and the overall case tally since late January to 129,837.

The toll now officially includes 9-month-old Chicagoan Joseph Myles, who died in late March. Final autopsy results released by the Cook County medical examiner’s office attributed his death to COVID-19, a tragic rarity for infants thus far in the pandemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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The ages of Illinois’ fatal COVID-19 victims now range from infancy to over 100, with the virus confirmed in all but one county across the state.

On top of the statewide figures, “probable” cases of COVID-19 have resulted in 178 deaths and 724 non-fatal infections since the start of the pandemic, though those potential victims and patients were never tested.

Still, the recovery rate for coronavirus patients in Illinois is 92% while testing and hospitalization metrics continue to trend in an optimistic direction, according to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office.

Wednesday marked the fifth straight day with officials reporting fewer than 1,000 new cases, and the sixth straight day with fewer than 100 deaths.

The state’s rolling positivity rate for coronavirus testing held steady at 4% over the last week. Almost 21,000 test results were received Tuesday, and more than 1.1 million people have been tested overall.

Health officials are urging residents to maintain social distancing and keep wearing face masks to avoid a surge in new cases.

All four regions of the state are on track to enter the fourth phase of Pritzker’s reopening plan June 26, which would allow for gatherings of up to 50 people.

Beyond that, the state won’t completely reopen until there is a COVID-19 vaccine, a widely available and effective treatment or “the elimination of new cases over a sustained period of time through herd immunity or other factors,” according to the governor’s plan.