Friday, September 5, 2020
Backlog of Tests Worked Through – 5,368 New Confirmed Cases of Coronavirus Disease
Data processing system slowdown fixed – 149,273 specimens reported

[September 18, 2020]   Earlier this week, a slowdown in data processing within Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) systems affected the reporting of tests due to the large volume of testing occurring in Illinois.

All available resources were deployed to improve the data systems, which are now fixed, and the backlog created by the slowdown has been cleared. Two system upgrades were put in place and the systems now have significantly faster processing capacity. Although the slowdown did delay the reporting of some additional aggregate numbers, it did not affect the reporting of positive or negative results to individuals in any way.

IDPH today announced 5,368 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 29 additional confirmed deaths.

- Bond County: 1 male 70s

- Cook County: 1 male 40s, 2 males 50s, 2 females 70s, 1 male 80s

- Cumberland County: 1 female 90s

- Edgar County: 1 female 90s

- Henry County: 1 male 90s

- Kankakee County: 1 male 90s

- Lake County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s

- LaSalle County: 1 female 80s

- Macoupin County: 1 male 70s

- Madison County: 2 male 70s

- McHenry County: 1 male 80s

- McLean County: 1 male 90s

- Moultrie County: 1 female 90s

- Perry County: 1 male 60s

- Richland County: 1 female 90s

- Rock Island County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 90s

- Stark County: 1 male 80s

- Tazewell County: 1 female 80s

- Will County: 1 female 70s

- Williamson County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 245,371 cases, including 8,143 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 28 – September 3 is 4.1%. Using a 7-day rolling average for this metric helps account for any variation in day to day data collection, such as a data processing slowdown, and provides the public and decisions makers with a consistent picture of trends over time.

As of last night, 1,621 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 360 patients were in the ICU and 155 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 149,273 specimens for a total of 4,309,941.

Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
 

*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. Information for a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email [e-mail].

[Illinois Office of Communication and Information]