Illinois COVID Update: IL reports 3,434 new cases, 8 deaths

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois reported 3,434 new COVID cases and eight related deaths Wednesday.

IDPH said "daily deaths reported on weekends and at the beginning of the week may be low" and "those deaths will be captured in subsequent days."

There have been at least 3,128,134 total COVID cases, including at least 33,592 related deaths in the state since the pandemic began.

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As of Tuesday night, 700 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 71 patients were in the ICU, and 24 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

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IDPH reports the seven-day average case rate in the state is at 169 cases per 100,000 people.

A total of 21,834,484 vaccine doses have been administered in Illinois as of Wednesday, and 64.67% of the state's population is fully vaccinated. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 16,376.

COVID case rise in Chicago not cause for concern, Arwady says

COVID-19 cases are also on the rise in the city as well. Chicago Dept. of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday that the city is now averaging 585 cases a day, up 26% from a week ago. But she said that's not cause for alarm.

"Importantly, we are not seeing this surge - even after weeks and weeks of it - I wouldn't even call it a surge, I'd call it a little bit of a ripple as opposed to a wave," Arwady said, "We're not seeing it turn into the severe outcomes like we did previously."

Arwady said COVID hospitalizations in Chicago average just 10 a day, which is near the low rate we saw last summer. Additionally, COVID deaths in Chicago are the lowest they've ever been, averaging one or two a week.