1,195 new COVID-19 cases reported in Illinois

This picture taken on May 23, 2020 shows a laboratory technician holding a dose of a COVID-19 novel coronavirus vaccine candidate ready for trial on monkeys at the National Primate Research Center of Thailand at Chulalongkorn University in Saraburi.

State health officials on Saturday announced a total of 1,195 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Illinois.

There are also another 24 deaths attributed to the coronavirus statewide, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The state death count has risen to 7,168, while the total case count is now at 152,962.

On Friday, state health officials recorded 1,317 new cases, while on Thursday they recorded 1,018, Wednesday they recorded 980, and on Tuesday, 587.

The increase in cases coincides with an upward trend in testing. The state performed 32,345 coronavirus tests in the last day. That bumps up the state’s positivity rate to 3.0%, compared to 2.9% the day before.

Of the newly reported deaths, 18 of them were in Cook County.