Public Health Officials Announce 49,668 New Cases of Coronavirus Disease Over the Past Week

 

[December 22, 2021]   The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 49,668 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including an increase of 266 deaths since December 3, 2021.

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,884,744 cases, including 26,801 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Since Friday, December 3, 2021, laboratories have reported 1,160,624 specimens for a total of 40,810,633. As of last night, 3,257 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 662 patients were in the ICU and 299 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from December 3-9, 2021 is 4.3%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from December 3-9, 2021 is 5.8%.

A total of 18,007,906 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 72,775 doses. Since Friday, December 3, 2021, 509,428 doses were reported administered in Illinois. Of Illinois’ total population, approximately 70% has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and more than 62% of Illinois’ total population is fully vaccinated according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Approximately 41% of Illinois’ eligible adults have received a booster dose of vaccine.

Monoclonal antibodies therapy is a prevention as well as treatment option for COVID-19 illness for non-hospitalized people and is a way to lower the chance of progression to severe illness or hospitalization. An estimated 235 or more hospitalizations were avoided over a 4-week time period due to monoclonal antibody treatment. IDPH continues to encourage health care providers, including primary care offices, outpatient clinics, urgent care centers, infusion centers, dialysis centers, home health services, and hospitals to assess their capabilities to provide this treatment to their patients quickly after they have been identified as having COVID-19 and are determined to be at risk for severe illness or hospitalization.

All data are provisional and will change. Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found at https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19.html.

Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic. To find a COVID-19 vaccination location near you, go to www.vaccines.gov.

[Illinois Office of Communication and Information]