* This is a huge increase in the number of cases (4,979 yesterday), but the positivity rates still look OK for now. We’ll see. Press release…

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 7,042 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 95 additional deaths.

- Adams County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
- Coles County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
- Cook County: 1 female 30s, 1 female 50s, 3 males 50s, 8 females 60s, 9 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 11 males 70s, 5 females 80s, 4 males 80s, 1 male 90s
- DuPage County: 1 male 70s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s
- Hancock County: 1 male 80s
- Kane County: 1 male 60s, 2 females 80s
- Lake County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 90s
- Madison County: 1 female 80s
- Marshall County: 1 female 70s
- McHenry County: 1 female 70s
- McLean County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s
- Montgomery County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
- Ogle County: 1 male 60s
- Peoria County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s
- Piatt County: 1 male 90s
- Randolph County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
- Richland County: 1 female 60s
- Rock Island County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 90s
- Sangamon County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
- St. Clair County: 2 males 80s, 3 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- Washington County: 1 male 80s
- Will County: 2 females 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
- Winnebago County: 1 female 30s, 1 female 90s
- Woodford County: 1 male 70s

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,093,375 cases, including 18,615 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 125,831 specimens for a total 15,209,516. As of last night, 3,179 in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 661 patients were in the ICU and 348 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from January 15–21, 2021 is 5.0%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from January 15–21, 2021 is 6.2%.

Beginning today, IDPH has adjusted reporting probable cases, which caused an artificial one day increase in cases of 1,903. Previously, only confirmed deaths were included in the total case count. However, the total case count includes both confirmed and probable cases. Therefore, probable deaths are now being included in the total case count. Confirmed deaths and probable deaths will still be reported separately.

As of last night, 922,325 doses of vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago. In addition, approximately 524,050 doses have been allocated to the federal government’s Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 1,446,375. IDPH is currently reporting a total of 616,677 vaccines administered, including 93,683 for long-term care facilities. Yesterday, a total of 44,288 doses were administered. The 7-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 24,190 doses.

*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.

* Meanwhile…

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced Region 4 (Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair, Washington) is moving to Tier 2 effective today. All 11 regions have now moved out of Tier 3 mitigations. If metrics continue to improve or are stable, regions 10 and 11 are on track to advance to Tier 1 on Saturday, January 23, 2021. Information about which tier and phase regions are in can be found at the top of the IDPH website homepage.

“With all regions of Illinois now out of Tier 3, we can now see that the entire state is headed down the right path,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “During the summer, we were on this same path. We know that we must continue to take precautions and be smart about how we relax some of the mitigation measures, which are in place to protect our health and safety.”

“We are pleased to hear our region as whole is trending in the right direction,” said St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern. “We will continue to advocate to our residents to mask up, wash their hands, and stay safe so we can continue to increase capacity at our hospitals and reduce our positivity rates. We appreciate the work and partnership of IDPH and Governor Pritzker.”

IDPH will continue to closely monitor test positivity, ICU bed availability, and the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19. Should data show regions trending in the wrong direction, based on the established mitigation metrics, regions could once again find themselves in a higher tier with increase measures.

The governor’s press conference today is focused on youth sports. Stay tuned for updates.