Illinois reports 1,477 new COVID-19 cases
CHICAGO - State health officials Monday announced 1,477 new cases of COVID-19 and seven additional deaths.
The new cases were reported among 38,234 specimens tested over the last 24 hours, The Illinois Department of Health said. The state’s positivity rate remained at 3.5%.
Of the seven coronavirus-related deaths announced Monday, five were recorded in Cook County.
Illinois has reported a total of 275,735 cases and 8,457 deaths.
As of Sunday night, 1,436 people in Illinois were hospitalized with COVID-19. Of those, 364 were in the ICU and 153 were on ventilators.
Also on Monday, state officials touted the milestone that more than 5 million COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Illinois.
The state surpassed the mark Saturday, the same day it reported more than 74,000 tests, the highest in a 24-hour period.
“In a pandemic, widely available testing and faster results mean our people are safer,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement.
Four other states have already tested more than 5 million people, according to the COVID Tracking Project. They are California, New York, Texas and Florida.
Associated Press contributed to this report.