The state of Illinois dropped to sixth in the U.S. for total number of coronavirus cases on Tuesday after states currently seeing a surge in the South and West regions surpassed it.
Illinois reported 724 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 143,185 confirmed cases statewide since the pandemic began.
That total number of cases puts Illinois at sixth of the 50 states, dropping from its previously consistent rank in the top three or four states with the most cases as the outbreak surges in other parts of the country.
With roughly 50,000 cases confirmed in the past week alone, Florida reached 158,997 cases Tuesday. That steady climb in recent days put it above Illinois at fifth in the country, and just behind Texas' 159,986 cases as of Tuesday, ranking fourth.
New York, the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., still has the most confirmed cases in the nation with 394,079 cases, state health officials say. California reached 222,917 cases Tuesday, putting it above New Jersey, which health officials say ranks third with a total of 171,667 confirmed cases.
When it comes to cases based on population, Illinois ranks lower than 20 other states with 676 cases per 100,000 people, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
Illinois health officials reported 23 additional deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total to 6,923 deaths in 101 of the state's 102 counties. The number of deaths has been steadily declining in Illinois in recent days, dropping as low as levels last seen in late March earlier this week.
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Still, Illinois' death toll is among the highest in the nation, ranking fourth. New York has seen 24,866 deaths, New Jersey has seen 13,181 and Massachusetts has lost 8,054 lives since the beginning of the pandemic.
