Health officials in Illinois reported 1,631 new and confirmed confirmed cases of coronavirus on Sunday, the smallest single-day increase in that metric since the beginning of October.
This news comes as vaccination efforts continue to increase across the state. According to the most recent IDPH information, the state set a new record for most COVID-19 vaccines in the past week, with more than 60,000 residents receiving doses of the vaccine daily.
Here are the latest COVID headlines across the state:
Chicago opens 4 COVID-19 vaccine sites for school staff
Four COVID-19 vaccination sites dedicated to teachers and staff at Chicago Public Schools are expected to be fully operational next week, district officials said.
As of Monday, Chicago will reserve 1,500 weekly doses for employees in the nation’s third-largest school district. That adds to the nearly 2,000 doses offered in the past few days to teachers who are most at risk of falling ill or who are returning to classrooms early, as the district gradually reopens. Some pre-K and special education students started face-to-face classes on Thursday.
Vaccination sites are located in four schools, including Colégio Clemente, where some educators have already received vaccines. District officials said officials will be released from office during vaccination appointments.
Illinois reports 1,631 new cases of COVID-19, 35 additional deaths
Health officials in Illinois reported 1,631 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus on Sunday, along with 35 additional deaths.
According to the state Department of Public Health, the number of new cases on Sunday was the lowest reported in a single day since the beginning of October. In all, 1,162,154 cases of the virus have been reported in Illinois since the pandemic began, along with 19,961 confirmed deaths.
Another 2,160 deaths are classified as “probable” COVID-19 fatalities.
Coronavirus in numbers: COVID-19 metrics in each of Illinois’ 11 health regions
All of Illinois remains in Phase 4 coronavirus mitigations as virus-related metrics continue to improve in most parts of the state.
According to the IDPH website, all regions of the state have had a positive rate of 5% or less in the past seven days, with most regions continuing to see declines in hospitalizations.
According to current COVID mitigation rules, a region will remain in Phase 4 of the state’s reopening plan, unless it reports a positivity rate of over 6.5% for three consecutive days, bed availability in the ICU of less than 20% or increase in hospitalizations over seven days over a 10-day period.
Here is the position of each region.