Illinois officials reported nearly 200 deaths in 24 hours Wednesday, marking the deadliest day on record for the state since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The state recorded 192 additional deaths since Tuesday's data was announced. That lifts the statewide death toll for the pandemic to 3,792.
"This is the largest one-day increase that we have reported thus far," said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.
Illinois also confirmed 1,677 new cases of coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections for the pandemic so far to 84,698.
This comes after the state reported a single-day record for new cases Tuesday with more than 4,000 confirmed infections in 24 hours.
According to officials, Illinois returned 17,668 test results in the last day. That brings the state's total number of tests performed to 489,359 as of Wednesday.
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The number drops the state's overall positivity rate to 17 percent. The positivity rate has been declining across Illinois since spiking at a high of 21.36 percent on April 22.
As of Wednesday, 4,563 people remained hospitalized with COVID-19. Of those, 1,208 were in intensive care units and 714 were on ventilators.
"We know that the numbers of the people in the hospitals the number of people who passed on are not just numbers and statistics," Ezike said while urging residents to continue staying home.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker revealed Monday that Illinois may not reach a coronavirus peak until mid-June, according to new projections.
The state is currently in its seventh week of a statewide stay-at-home order and in the second phase of a five-stage reopening plan. The state remains under a stay-at-home order until May 30, though some regions may begin lifting additional restrictions as early as May 29.
