(WTTW News)
The number of new COVID-19 infections has been steadily increasing over the past few weeks and on Thursday reached its highest single-day total in two months, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data.
The 3,048 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus reported Thursday mark the highest daily total since May 7, when the state reported 3,321 cases.
The seven-day statewide positivity rate is now 4.6%, up from 1.9% for the week of July 9-15, according to IDPH data.
The uptick in cases comes a week after Lollapalooza drew hundreds of thousands of music fans to Grant Park and on the heels of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s announcement of a mask mandate for all students and staff at public and private schools.
Pritzker said he had hoped a mask mandate “wouldn’t be necessary,” but with increasing case numbers and hospitalizations among young people, he now believes the state must take action to “protect children (and) prevent death.”
“My goal has always been to safely bring all kids back into the classroom at the start of the school year, and crucially, to keep them there,” he said during a news conference Wednesday at the James R. Thompson Center. “Without these measures, we would likely see many more outbreaks than in the latter half of the last school year.”
Nearly all of Illinois’ 102 counties are experiencing substantial or high transmission of COVID-19, defined by IDPH as areas with 50-99 cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period or more than 100 cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period, respectively.
In Cook County, the average seven-day case rate per 100,000 people is 76.23, according to state data.
Chicago is now recording 260 cases per day based on a seven-day average, according to Chicago Department of Public Health data. In the past week, the number of cases has increased 39%, according to city data.
The city’s COVID-19 test positivity rate is now 3.5%, up from a low of 0.4% on June 27.
Only Jasper, Putnam, Lee and Jo Daviess counties are experiencing moderate transmission, defined by the agency as 10-49 cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period. And western Henderson County is the sole county in the state with low transmission, or fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period, according to IDPH data.
Matt Masterson contributed.
Contact Kristen Thometz: @kristenthometz | (773) 509-5452 | [email protected]
