Illinois’ infection rate holds steady at 1% for second day

The state’s coronavirus infection rate remained a record low for the second day in a row with residents itching for a semblance of normalcy as Illinois reopens Friday.

Statistics released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Public Health didn’t shatter any record lows but suggest a continued downward trend in the pandemic in terms of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

State health officials announced just 366 new coronavirus cases and 18 more deaths, including six people from Cook County.

The latest positive cases come from 42,403 tests taken in the past 24 hours, which helped keep the statewide seven-day positivity rate at just 1%. That’s the lowest it’s been since experts started tracking the statistic in May 2020.

The latest figures raise the total number of positive coronavirus cases to 1,386,628 with 23,014 deaths across the state.

There were 764 people hospitalized with COVID-19; 209 of those patients were in the ICU and 103 were on ventilators.

As coronavirus cases continue to trend downward, vaccinations remain on the rise. With 62,268 people being inoculated Wednesday, a total of 11,821,373 vaccinations have been administered statewide.

More than 68% of adults in Illinois have received at least one dose and more than 51% are fully vaccinated, the state reported.

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