COVID Illinois Update: IL reports 1,169 new cases, 38 deaths

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois public health officials reported 1,169 new COVID cases and 38 related deaths Thursday.

There have been at least 3,035,870 total COVID cases, including 32,886 deaths in the state since the pandemic began.

The seven-day statewide test positivity rate is 1.7%, the lowest figure reported since July 9, 2021.

Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported testing 136,531 new specimens for a total of 54,954,495 since the pandemic began.

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As of Wednesday night , 881 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 162 patients were in the ICU, and 82 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

A total of 21,146,167 vaccine doses have been administered in Illinois as of Wednesday, and 63.83% of the state's population is fully vaccinated. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 12,680.

On Tuesday, Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozie Ezike announced she would be stepping down on March 14.

"I did not know fully what I was getting into, but I had ideals that I believed in that would be my guiding light, my north star," Ezike said.