Officials: More than 300K in Illinois stricken with COVID-19

Illinois has surpassed 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic hit last spring, state health officials said Saturday.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,442 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and 31 additional deaths.

There have now been 300,088 known cases and 8,774 deaths in Illinois since the pandemic began, according to the state’s coronavirus response website.

On Friday, Illinois issued a “warning list,” of 28 counties, none of which are in the Chicago area, that were considered at a “warning level” for the coronavirus. The counties on the warning list were put there after surpassing two more metrics, such as the number of cases per 100,000 people and test positivity rates.

The warning list came out as the state on Friday reported 2,206 new known cases of COVID-19 and 47 deaths connected to the virus. The death toll was the state’s highest daily count since late June, but still far below the numbers reported during the pandemic’s peak in June.