Illinois obliterates daily COVID-19 case record with more than 30K positive tests

Public health officials on Thursday announced a staggering 30,386 new COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed statewide as the Omicron variant fuels Illinois’ largest-ever spike in positive tests.

The latest count shatters by more than 9,000 the previous state record set on Christmas Eve when more than 21,000 infections were diagnosed — and it nearly doubles the high-water mark of last fall’s surge, which had been the biggest of the pandemic.

Officials have urged residents to get fully vaccinated and boosted as the state’s hospitals face their greatest burden since Dec. 1, 2020, before any vaccines were available. Coronavirus patients were occupying 5,689 hospital beds statewide Wednesday night — nearly all of them unvaccinated, officials say. That marked a net increase of 218 patients in one day.

COVID-19 deaths are mounting as well, with 87 more confirmed Thursday. Illinois has averaged 55 deaths per day over the last week, a rate that has more than tripled in a month.

Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/coronavirus/2021/12/30/22860227/illinois-coronavirus-record-high-cases-30000-covid-omicron-vaccine-chicago