Ill. surpasses 13K COVID-19 deaths, just eight days after reaching 12K

Illinois moved past 13,000 COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, just eight days after marking 12,000 deaths.

The numbers illustrate just how bad the pandemic has gotten here. Illinois has recorded more coronavirus deaths than any other state in the last seven days, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only Illinois and Texas have more than 1,000 deaths in the last seven days.

Included in that total are the 208 deaths the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Saturday. That brings the state’s total to 13,179 deaths since the pandemic began in March. Illinois hit 10,000 deaths just a month ago.

Chicago and Cook County account for half of the state’s cumulative COVID-19 deaths, but 99 out of Illinois’ 102 counties have seen at least one fatality from the coronavirus.

Also Saturday, Illinois health officials reported 9,887 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19. There were 102,678 tests reported, for a one-day positivity rate of 9.6%. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity rate is 10.3%, state officials said.

The death toll is mounting as state officials have announced some details on how it plans to distribute roughly 109,000 doses of a new COVID-19 vaccine. The 50 counties across the state with the highest death rates from the virus will get the initial batch. In the Chicago area, that includes Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will counties. It also includes Kankakee County but not McHenry.

The Pfizer vaccine, which is not yet approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, could arrive the week of Dec. 13. The vaccine requires two doses given three weeks apart, and the first doses would go to front-line health care workers and those in long-term care facilities.

“No single person will be fully vaccinated even by Christmas, and it will likely be months before people with low-risk factors for COVID-19 see their first dose,” Pritzker said at his Friday coronavirus briefing.