Illinois COVID cases: IL reports 20,804 new cases, 96 deaths

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois public health officials reported 20,804 new COVID-19 cases and 96 related deaths Tuesday.

There have been 2,098,064 total COVID cases, including 27,684 deaths in the state since the pandemic began.

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The seven-day statewide test positivity rate is 12.4%.

Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported testing 137,427 new specimens for a total of 44,052,340 since the pandemic began.

As of Monday night, 5,200 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 1,093 patients were in the ICU and 592 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

A total of 19,034,693 vaccine doses have been administered in Illinois as of Monday, and 60.35% of the state's population is fully vaccinated. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 48,152.

Governor JB Pritzker announced new measures to help Illinoisans get vaccinated and tested Monday as COVID cases surge statewide thanks to the omicron variant.

With a shortage of at-home COVID tests and long lines at most testing centers, the state announced a 50% increase in the number of state-run testing clinics as well as expanding vaccination clinics and providing additional personnel to local health departments who've been struggling not with vaccine availability, but with enough staffing to administer those vaccines.

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Gov. JB Pritzker announced new efforts to expand testing and vaccinations in Illinois Monday as the omicron variant spreads.

"What we're doing is expanding by tens of thousands the ability for people to get boosted and get vaccinated during this time when there's high demand," Governor Pritzker said.

What the governor did not do is announce any new statewide mitigations, saying that he will leave it to individual jurisdictions to decide what works best for them.

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While rapid tests are helpful for symptomatic people, doctors say PCR tests continue to be the gold standard for those without symptoms. Due to demand, turnaround times are getting longer.

"The labs are getting a bit backed up, our turnaround time is 36 hours," said Jayme Silvey, medical director at Innovative Express Care.