- Credibility:
CHICAGO — The past day saw 47 more deaths from coronavirus reported in Illinois.
Among the most recent victims were 34 people in Cook County. At least 11,552 people have died from COVID-19 in Illinois, and another 560 deaths are considered to be probably related to coronavirus.
The state also reported 8,322 confirmed cases in the past day. That brings the total number of confirmed cases in Illinois up to 664,620.
With Chicago and the rest of Illinois firmly in the midst of a second wave of COVID-19, officials are urging everyone to cancel their Thanksgiving plans and stay home. The state’s top doctor said getting a negative test does not mean you can safely gather for Thanksgiving since you can have and spread coronavirus but still get a negative test.
Coronavirus could kill up to 45,000 more Illinoisans between now and March without restrictions, Gov. JB Pritzker said last week.
To prevent more deaths — and to slow down the virus and hopefully avert a full stay at home order — the entire state is under Tier 3 restrictions as of Friday morning. The rules close museums, casinos and theaters; cut capacity at stores; stop indoor sports and put stricter rules in place at gyms and salons, among other things.
Chicago is under a stay at home advisory. People are being asked to stay home as much as possible, leaving only for essential things like grocery shopping; to work from home if possible; to stop gathering with anyone outside their household; and to stop traveling.
People should also wear masks and wash their hands regularly, officials have said.
The surge in new cases in Chicago — and across Illinois — can only partially be explained by increased testing; in reality, there are more cases because coronavirus is spreading so much, officials have said. There’s evidence of that in the way positivity rates and COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations have rapidly risen in recent weeks.
Illinois’ seven-day positivity rate was at 10.9 percent with 91,562 tests reported. It was at 11.3 percent Sunday. The figure represents total confirmed cases divided by total tests.
Illinois’ seven-day test positivity, which measures how many tests were positive out of total tests, fell to 12.7 percent. It was at 13 percent Sunday.
As of Sunday night, 6,171 people were hospitalized with coronavirus in Illinois, including 1,206 people in the ICU and 635 people using ventilators.
In Chicago, 19 deaths and 1,689 confirmed cases were reported since Sunday. There have been at least 3,354 deaths from COVID-19 in Chicago and 150,773 confirmed cases, according to state data.
An average of 2,076 confirmed cases are being reported per day, a 13 percent decrease from the prior week. The city’s seven-day positivity rate is at 14.2 percent, down from 15.7 percent the week before.
The city is also seeing an average of 12 deaths per day, up from 10 deaths per day the week prior.
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