New one-day high for COVID cases
IDPH confirms 4,554 new cases, positivity rate rises above 5 percent, 2,000 hospitalized, 34 counties on coronavirus warning list
Gov. Pritzker and Dr. Ngozi Ezike at the McCormick Place medical facility in early April. (Illinois.gov)
By Ted Cox
Here we go again.
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced a record one-day high of 4,554 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 Friday, as the statewide testing positivity rate rose above 5 percent, with fully a third of Illinois counties placed on a formal warning list for rising infections.
After the Illinois death toll surpassed 9,000 earlier in the week, 38 new deaths brought the number of lives lost to the coronavirus to 9,165. The total number of infections hit 336,174. The number of Illinoisans hospitalized for COVID-19 climbed above 2,000, to 2,016, with 410 under intensive care and 151 on ventilators.
Across the state, 87,759 COVID tests were conducted, but even so, with the one-day record high for infections, the positivity rate hit 5.1 percent, where just last week it was under 4 percent.
IDPH reported 5,368 new cases on Sept. 4, but that was after a data-processing glitch delayed new results for days, so it’s not really considered a one-day total. Friday’s total topped the record 4,015 announced the day before.
Thirty-four of the state’s 102 counties are now on a formal IDPH warning list for an increasing number of infections, up from 26 last week. The new list includes Adams, Alexander, Boone, Cass, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, DeKalb, DeWitt, Jasper, Jefferson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Lee, Macon, McDonough, McHenry, Mercer, Monroe, Pike, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Stephenson, Union, Vermilion, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Whiteside, Will, and Winnebago counties. Adams, Alexander, Boone, Cass, DeKalb, DeWitt, Jasper, Jo Daviess, Kane, Macon, McDonough, McHenry, Mercer, Monroe, Pike, Randolph, Stephenson, Washington, Wayne, and Will were newly added. Case, Coles, Effingham, Fayette, Henderson, Jackson, Knox, Lake, Mason, Massac, Richland, and Shelby counties dropped off the list.
IDPH reported: “Some of the common factors for an increase in cases and outbreaks are associated with gatherings in people’s homes, weddings and funerals, bars and clubs, university and college parties as well as college sports teams, family gatherings, long-term-care facilities, correctional centers, schools, and cases among the community at large, especially people in their 20s.
“Public health officials are observing businesses blatantly disregarding mitigation measures, people not social distancing, gathering in large groups, and not using face coverings. Mayors, local law enforcement, state’s attorneys, and other community leaders can be influential in ensuring citizens and businesses follow best practices.”
Earlier in the week, Gov. Pritzker and Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike warned that holiday gatherings this fall and winter might have to be sharply curtailed or postponed entirely to prevent a COVID-19 resurgence during flu season. The rapidly increasing number of cases reported statewide at the end of the week reemphasized that warning.