Illinois COVID Update: IL reports 958 cases, 10 deaths
Mayor says Lollapalooza will still take place next week
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois Department of Public Health officials reported 958 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 10 related deaths Wednesday.
There have been 1,404,466 total COVID cases, including 23,392 deaths in the state since the pandemic began.
The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from July 14-21 is at 3%.
Chicago COVID vaccine map shows how many residents vaccinated by zip code
Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported testing 33,254 specimens for a total of 26,444,494 since the pandemic began.
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As of Tuesday night, 572 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 118 patients were in the ICU and 38 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Illinois COVID vaccine map shows how many residents vaccinated by county
A total of 13,013,705 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of Monday. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 19,963. There were 25,715 vaccines administered in Illinois Tuesday.
Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city is concerned about the rising number of COVID cases due to the delta variant. CDPH Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said the city is now seeing an average of 90 new cases a day with a positivity rate of 1.5%.
"If we allow the virus to continue linger here in Chicago, we will likely see further mutations, some of which our current vaccines may not be able to protect against and have to re-enforce some of the restrictions that have come to infamously define much of 2020 and part of 2021," Mayor Lightfoot said.
The mayor urged Chicagoans to get vaccinated against COVID. She also issued a reminder for those planning to attend Lollapalooza to follow the festival's requirements and have proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test.
If you are going to Lolla or any other large festival or gatherings, doctors say it's important to use common sense protocols as much as you can.
"Wash your hands, use sanitizer, really try to keep your distance, cover your mouth when you are coughing and sneezing and it's just doing more of all of those measures," said Dr. Dipul Patadia, chief medical officer at Advocate Condell Medical Center. "If you feel uncomfortable, wear the mask. I think that at the end of the day, even though it is not a requirement if people wear masks, it will help."
