Illinois COVID Update: IL reports 2,932 cases, 54 deaths

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois Department of Public Health officials reported 2,932 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 54 related deaths Wednesday.

There have been 1,643,993 total COVID cases, including 25,153 deaths in the state since the pandemic began.

The seven-day statewide test positivity rate from Sept. 29-Oct. 5 is down to 2.6 percent.

Illinois COVID vaccine map shows how many residents vaccinated by county

Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported testing 124,578 specimens for a total of 32,629,332 since the pandemic began.

As of Tuesday night, 1,747 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 425 patients were in the ICU and 233 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

A total of 14,742,283 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of Tuesday. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 30,623.

As of Wednesday, over 7 million people in Illinois are fully vaccinated. That's 55.6 percent of the state's population.

The CDC director has added frontline workers to the list of those eligible for booster shots, which also includes people 65 and older, nursing home residents and those 50 and above with chronic health care problems should get boosters 6 months after their first dose. The CDC said younger people with underlying health issues can decide for themselves.

With the CDC's recommendation, millions of Americans will now eligible for the booster shot, but the head of Pfizer said he believes there is enough supply to handle those people and those still awaiting their initial vaccination.