Illinois COVID-19 Update: IL reports 4,318 new cases, 33 deaths; Chicago, suburban counties move to Tier 2

IDPH announces changes to mitigation metrics, allowing several regions to relax restrictions

ByEric Horng and ABC 7 Chicago Digital Team WLS logo
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
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CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois health officials reported 4,318 new COVID-19 cases and 33 deaths Tuesday.

The total number of cases in Illinois now stands at 1,076,532, with a total of 18,291 deaths, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Gov. JB Pritzker gave the latest on COVID-19 in Illinois Friday.

Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 71,533 specimens for a total of 14,898,528.

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As of Monday night, 3,335 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 713 patients were in the ICU and 395 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from Jan. 12-18 is 6.9%, which is the lowest it has been since late October.

The test positivity rate is a metric the state began providing in late October. It is calculated by using the total number of positive tests over the total number of tests. This is the metric being used to by state health officials to make decisions about mitigations.

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As of Sunday night, 781,350 doses of vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago, with an additional 304,600 doses allocated to federal government partners for long-term care facilities, bringing the total number delivered in Illinois to 1,085,950.

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IDPH reports that a total of 508,732 vaccine doses, including 69,976 at long-term facilities. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered is 22,134 .

The IDPH says that vaccine distribution numbers are reported in real-time and vaccine administration numbers lag by as much as 72 hours.

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The Illinois Dept. of Public Health said Monday it is adjusting its mitigation metrics, allowing Regions 8, 9, 10 and 11 to move from the most restrictive Tier 3 to Tier 2.

Regions 8, 9, 10 and 11 include the city of Chicago, suburban Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties. Moving from Tier 3 to Tier 2 allows for the reopening of movie theaters, casinos and museums. Group fitness classes can also take place.

Moving from Tier 3 to Tier 2 allows for the reopening of movie theaters, casinos and museums. Group fitness classes can also take place.

In other parts of the state, Regions 1 and 6 have met the metrics to move to Tier 1, and Regions 3 and 5 have met the metrics to return to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan, IDPH said.

You can see a map of the Restore Illinois regions here and the differences between Illinois' COVID-19 mitigation tiers here.

Getting COVID-19 vaccine shot Q&A

Chicagoans who have questions about COVID-19 vaccines can get answers at an event hosted by Chicago Women Take Action and Women2Win. The panel discussion will have doctors answering questions to help people better understand the vaccines.

The event will run from 6:30-7:30 p.m. and livestreamed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoWTA.

The deaths reported Tuesday include:

- Champaign County: 2 females 60s, 1 male 60s

- Clay County: 1 male 70s

- Cook County: 1 male 60s, 3 females 70s, 5 males 70s, 3 females 80s, 3 males 80s, 2 females 90s, 2 male 90s

- DuPage County: 2 females 80s

- Effingham County: 1 female 80s

- Marion County: 1 male 60s

- Montgomery County: 1 female 90s

- Peoria County: 2 females 90s

- Rock Island County: 1 male 70s

- Sangamon County: 1 female 70s

- Vermilion County: 1 male 60s