Dr. Marina Del Rios, from University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, reacts as she receives Chicago’s first COVID-19 vaccination from Dr. Nikhila Juvvadi on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, at Loretto Hospital, a 122-bed medical facility in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood.
Health officials in Illinois reported nearly 3,300 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday and 66 additional deaths attributed to the virus.
According to the latest figures from the Illinois Department of Public Health, a total of 3,293 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus were reported on Saturday. In all, 934,142 cases of the virus have been reported in Illinois since the pandemic began.
Saturday’s 66 additional deaths push the state to 15,865 fatalities related to the virus, with another 1,359 deaths currently classified as “probable” COVID-19 deaths.
Over the last 24 hours, 57,448 new test results were returned to state labs, an expected slowdown due to the Christmas holiday. Those tests bring the state to 12,939,386 completed results during the pandemic.
The seven-day positivity rate on all tests is now down to 6.8% in the state, with 8.5% positivity rates on unique individuals tested, according to officials.
Hospital bed usage also continued to decline on Saturday, dropping to 4,021 patients currently hospitalized due to the illness. Of those patients, 874 are currently in intensive care unit beds, with 494 patients on ventilators.
