Public Health Officials Announce 20,896 New Cases Of Coronavirus Disease Over Past Week

Springfield, IL-(Effingham Radio)- State Community-Based Testing Sites Move to 3 Day a Week – Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 20,896 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including an increase of 417 deaths since February 11, 2022.

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 3,013,709 cases, including 32,299 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois.  The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years.  Since February 11, 2022, laboratories have reported 884,390 specimens for a total of 53,621,982.  As of last night, 1,590 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19.  Of those, 303 patients were in the ICU and 132 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from February 11-17, 2022 is 2.4%.  The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from February 11- 17, 2022 is 3.1%.

Due to decreased demand at the state community-based testing sites (CBTS) and the availability of free at-home COVID-19 tests, the state testing locations will now be open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays beginning this weekend.  Locations previously open on Sundays will be closed this Sunday.  The hours of operation at the locations will remain the same and can be found on the IDPH website COVID-19 testing page.  We have seen an 87% drop in testing across the 10 state CBTS locations from the first of the year until now, and most locations are averaging fewer than 500 tests a week.  To order free at-home COVID-19 tests from the federal government, go to covidtests.gov.

A total of 20,971,401 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight.  The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 20,003 doses.  Since February 11, 2022, 140,021 doses were reported administered in Illinois.  Of Illinois’ total population, almost 76% has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, 67% of Illinois’ total population is fully vaccinated, and more than 48% boosted according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found at https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19.html.

Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic.  To find a COVID-19 vaccination location near you, go to www.vaccines.gov.

*All data are provisional and will change*