- Credibility:
CHICAGO — Illinois on Monday announced its fewest single-day number of coronavirus deaths in three months with 14 people dying from the virus statewide.
Illinois was in the first weeks of its coronavirus lockdown in late March when the number of daily fatalities was as low. On March 28, 13 people died from the virus.
Monday’s total follows Sunday’s announcement that 15 people had died. There have now been 6,902 deaths since the start of the pandemic
On Sunday, there were 646 new confirmed cases. On Monday, officials announced another 738 confirmed cases, bringing the state’s total to 142,461.
Friday marked the beginning of Phase 4 in the state, meaning restrictions on many indoor activities were loosened. Bars and restaurants were allowed to have limited indoor seating — 25 percent capacity with a cap of 50 people in Chicago.
While some businesses remained closed for outdoor seating, others jumped at the chance to expand seating indoors. In Wrigleyville, bars saw long lines of patrons waiting to get in. Many of them did not wear masks.
Health officials are closely watching the metrics to see if Illinois experiences the same type of surge seen in other reopening states. Some, such as Texas and Florida, have had to close bars down for a second time. Those states did not have the same capacity restrictions as Illinois, however.
A key metric being watched is the statewide positivity rate, a rolling seven-day average showing the percentage of tests administered that resulted in positive cases of COVID-19. The statewide positivity average now stands at 2.7 percent.
Other key metrics include the number of intensive care unit beds in use and the number of people on ventilators. As of Monday, there were 372 people in ICU beds statewide and 187 on ventilators.
One month ago, there were 980 patients in intensive care units. Of those, 593 were on ventilators.
In Chicago, the positivity rate stands at 4.6 percent. The city has seen 51,942 confirmed cases and 2,580 deaths.
