Average daily COVID-19 case rate climbs over 400 in Illinois again

Illinois is averaging more than 400 daily new cases of COVID-19 this week for the first time in a month.

With Illinois Department of Public Health officials reporting another 645 new cases Friday, the state is now averaging 421 new cases a day over the past week.

Just 2½ weeks ago, the state was averaging just 222 new cases each day, according to IDPH records.

Meanwhile, state health officials also announced Friday another 25,781 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered throughout the state.

IDPH records show vaccine providers have now administered 12,768,842 total doses statewide since December.

Providers are averaging 17,239 inoculations a day over the past week.

IDPH figures show 54.6% of the state's eligible population of residents 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 70% of that age group has received at least one dose of the vaccine.

IDPH officials reported eight more COVID-19 deaths.

That brings the state's death toll from the disease to 23,297, while 1,395,497 Illinois residents have tested positive for the virus.

Hospitals across the state are reporting 430 COVID-19 patients are being treated, with 91 of them in intensive care.

The state's seven-day average case positivity rate is at 1.5%, the highest in more than a month. Case positivity tracks the level of new infections within a certain population. A seven-day average is used to account for anomalies in the daily reporting of new cases and test results.