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COVID-19 cases and positivity rates dipping across Illinois
On Tuesday, Illinois reported 401 new coronavirus cases, which is the lowest daily case count in more than a year, and only eight deaths – none of which were outside Cook County.
CHICAGO - On Tuesday, Illinois reported 401 new coronavirus cases, which is the lowest daily case count in more than a year, and only eight deaths – none of which were outside Cook County.
Health officials say the numbers are likely skewed due to slow reporting over the holiday weekend, but they agree we are going in the right direction.
Chicago is seeing its lowest COVID-19 case count since the pandemic started.
In the city, the average daily case count has fallen to 157, which is down 38 percent from a week ago – and the test positivity rate is just 2.2 percent.
These trends are statewide.
In Will County, the health department spokesperson says they believe vaccine distribution is the largest factor when it comes to these decreasing numbers. But with all these good metrics, we still cannot get too excited as we need to still be cautious around summer gatherings and holidays.
"Let’s admit it, we just came out of Memorial Day weekend and the numbers are very encouraging but if there's going to be any kind of dreaded mini boost after Memorial Day weekend, we won’t know for a couple of weeks," said Steve Brandy of the Will County Health Department.
"And remember last year we had some not recommended types of gatherings that weren’t on at the end of the school year that we later found out about a few weeks down the road, so we are gonna hope that that does not happen," he added.
In Will County, almost 37 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
Statewide, 51 percent of all adults are fully vaccinated and our positivity rate is 1.9 percent.