BREAKING: Good News For Illinois Covid Numbers, Could Masks And Restrictions End Soon?
BREAKING NEWS: Good news this week for Illinois covid-19 numbers as Illinois became one of just six states nationwide to move from the high level of covid transmission (the highest) down to the substantial level. The state is now at 95 cases per 100,000 people; the cutoff for substantial is 100 per 100,000.
Illinois covid transmission map, courtesy of the Mayo Clinic.
The positive move has prompted speculation that the mask mandate and other restrictions Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker implemented late in the summer as numbers began to surge.
“We’re watching to make sure that we’re on a good downward trajectory,” Pritzker said in a press conference. “That’s what we were looking for back in May leading into June; it’s what we’re looking for now in order for us to possibly make changes.”
Illinois Department of Public Health officials reported 2,913 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 39 related deaths today. There have been 1,660,883 total COVID cases, including 25,327 deaths in the state since the pandemic began.
TheIDPH also reported that the seven-day statewide test positivity rate from Oct. 6-12 is at 2.6 percent, and within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported testing 105,515 specimens for a total of 33,443,341 since the pandemic
Illinois covid numbers are going in the right direction.
began.
As of Tuesday night, 1,615 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 365 patients were in the ICU and 197 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
A total of 14,927,266 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of Tuesday. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 28,950.
Just a few weeks ago,Pritzker announced even more mitigations banning students and staff from schools if they tested positive for covid or had exposure to the virus. That was in addition to the statewide mask mandate and other mitigations already in place.
In early August, Pritzker announced Illinois students preschool through 12 would be required to wear masks during school and indoor sports and activities, as reported on QuadCities.com. That requirement for kids to wear masks in all schools remains in effect.
Last year at this time, the Illinois positivity rate was at 3.5 percent and climbing, as Illinois numbers raged out of control in October and November, causing a statewide shutdown.
For more ongoing coverage of this situation, stay tuned to your free, fact-based alternative media, QuadCities.com.
