IDPH reported a total of 1,244,585 COVID-19 cases, including 21,301 deaths, since the beginning of the pandemic.
As of Tuesday night, 1,413 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 294 patients were in the ICU and 123 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Fifteen weeks into the vaccine rollout, more than 70% of Illinois seniors age 65+ have gotten one dose. It would be enough to further reopen, if health metrics weren't in the red.
At Edward-Elmhurst Health, average daily hospitalizations in the past week up nearly 50% from the previous week.
"We're seeing people in their 50s, who are just, it's just not their turn yet to get vaccinated, and they're coming in with severe infections," said Dr. Jonathan Pinsky, medical director of infection control at Edward Hospital.
And it's costing more lives. Average daily deaths across the state are up 24% in less than two weeks.
"Even if you have a mild form of the disease, you've been vaccinated, and maybe you do get the disease, and you don't even realize that you're asymptomatic, that doesn't mean that you don't have some chance of transmitting that disease," said Dr. Rachel Rubin, senior medical officer, Cook County Dept. of Public Health.
RELATED: Illinois COVID vaccine map shows how many residents vaccinated by county
Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported testing 77,727 specimens for a total of 20,313,050 since the pandemic began.
The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from March 24-30 is 3.9%.
Gov. Pritzker gets COVID vaccine
Gov. JB Pritzker gets Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine
A total of 6,858,805 doses of vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago, with an additional 448,830 doses allocated to federal government partners for long-term care facilities, bringing the total number delivered in Illinois to 7,307,635.
A total of 5,801,871 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of Tuesday night, including 367,782 for long-term care facilities. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 109,358 doses. There were 137,445 doses reported administered in Illinois Tuesday.
Illinois has administered doses to 70 % of residents 65 and older,reaching the threshold needed to move into the Bridge Phase of reopening. However, IDPH said rising hospitalization rates will prevent Illinois from moving into the Bridge Phase. IDPH epidemiologists will continue to focus on the most recent 10 days to monitor any acute trends that prevent the state from reaching the Bridge Phase.
The deaths reported Wednesday include:
-Bureau County: 1 female 80s
-Cook County: 2 females 40s, 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 3 males 50s, 1 female 60s, 2 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 2 males 70s, 3 females 80s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 female 100+
-Franklin County: 1 female 90s
-Grundy County: 1 female 70s
-Lake County: 1 male 60s
-Livingston County: 1 female 80s
-Rock Island County: 1 female 80s
-Sangamon County: 1 female 80s