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* UPDATED x1 * 1,707 new cases, 24 additional deaths, 1,631 people in hospitals, 4.1 percent positivity rate

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* Press release…

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,707 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 24 additional confirmed deaths.

- Cook County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 4 males 80s, 1 female 90s
- DuPage County: 1 male 70s
- Hancock County: 1 female 80s
- Jefferson County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s
- Lake County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
- LaSalle County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 100+
- Madison County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
- St. Clair County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 60s
- Whiteside County: 1 female 70s
- Will County: 1 male 60s
- Winnebago County: 1 male 70s

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 227,334 cases, including 7,977 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 44,510 specimens for a total of 3,875,922. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 20 – August 26 is 4.1%. As of last night, 1,631 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 390 patients were in the ICU and 151 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.

*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. Information for a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.

* Some context for yesterday’s numbers…

COVID-19 has killed 37 more Illinoisans, public health officials announced Wednesday, marking the state’s highest number of deaths attributed to the virus in a single day in seven weeks.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also said 2,157 more coronavirus cases have been confirmed, the seventh time the state has crossed the 2,000-case threshold so far this month.

Cases have trended upward in Illinois since early July, and experts have warned that a spike in deaths would follow.

Wednesday’s toll marked only the fifth time the state has tallied 30 or more deaths since July 7, when 37 lives were also lost.

*** UPDATE *** Daily Herald…

Hospitals throughout Illinois are reporting the highest number of COVID-19 patients since July 1.

According to Illinois Department of Public Health figures, 1,631 patients were hospitalized with the respiratory disease at the start of the day Thursday. Over the past four days alone, hospitals statewide have added 182 new patients, an average of 46 new hospitalizations each day.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 12:08 pm

Comments

At this rate, we should hit 8k deaths by tomorrow. So heart wrenching.

Comment by Anon E Moose Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 12:13 pm
The increase in the average number of deaths over the last two weeks follows the climb in the average number of cases and positivity rate over the last month. Deaths lag infections by a week or two, so unfortunately deaths may continue to rise. However the average positivity rate has been slowly dropping this last week, so we might expect to see the number of daily deaths start to drop in another week or two.

Comment by muon Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 12:32 pm
The only positive is that the news is not worse. It’s basically the same sad story every day. A couple of months ago it seemed like Illinois was going well, but now not so much.

Comment by DuPage Dave Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 12:33 pm
Germany has just imposed a $59 fine (50 euros) for individuals failing to wear masks. Should Illinois follow?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/most-of-germany-imposes
-59-fine-for-mask-wearing-breaches/2020/08/27/0a00be1a-e88
9-11ea-bf44-0d31c85838a5_story.html

Comment by Chatham Resident Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 12:42 pm
I’d like to see fines for not wearing a mask and for not wearing one correctly. Cover your nose or you might as well not wear one.

Comment by Cheryl44 Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 1:21 pm
what Cheryl said

Comment by very old soil Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 1:24 pm
Glad it is holding around 4 %. That said mayors who openly announce that they will not enforce mitigation efforts should be recalled. Unfortunately they reflect the thoughts of the citizens in the community and thus the numbers will not improve. So sad with all the time and effort and destruction of the economy and then we the citizens are not willing to sustain the effort.

Comment by illinifan Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 1:43 pm
@muon

I fear that the drop in the overall positivity rate is being distorted by the massive amount of testing that the UIUC is doing. Don’t get me wrong, that amount of testing is great, but when you look at that single region (or even Champaign county), it is balancing out rises in testing the rest of the state (and places in its region like Effingham). If only we could get UIUC’s testing throughout the state.

Comment by Nathan Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 1:51 pm
Richland had two deaths yesterday that isn’t reported here or yesterday.

Comment by Way down yonder Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 2:00 pm
The lack of consistent, widespread local enforcement has always been the Achilles heel in this effort.

Comment by Dance Band on the Titanic Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 2:04 pm
I wouldn’t put too much stock into the positivity rate as the primary benefit of the stat is to measure whether or not we’re testing enough individuals. The hospitalizations, ICU and ventilator usage are far better measurements. If the new Abbott test can be deployed at scale that would be a very good development. Identifying positive cases earlier will be a tremendous benefit as it will minimize the need for contact tracing and allow us to have people self-isolate at the earliest possible opportunity.

Comment by Pundent Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 2:14 pm
===The hospitalizations, ICU and ventilator usage are far better measurements===

They are all lagging indicators, even more so now because people are being tested a lot more and a lot earlier.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 2:31 pm
Hospitalizations seem to be the only number trend that is reliable for what is happening currently.

Number of positive tests — all that represents is total specimens reported that day, with no indication of the time range of when the tests in that batch were conducted. Even more murky now with the rapid tests at UIUC.

Even “cases” doesn’t mean “people” even though that is what routinely makes it into headlines. Chicago Tribune recent headline stated that almost 4,000,000 “people” in Illinois have been tested at this point, which is absurd on its face to believe 1 in 3 residents have been tested. If only.

Reported deaths — how long after someone passes away until they are reported as a COVID-related death?

My only point is these daily reports from a data analysis standpoint seem worthless to try and come up with any sort of meaningful trend either up or down.

All we know for sure is, it’s still bad, wear a mask.

Comment by harp5339 Thursday, Aug 27, 20 @ 2:51 pm