Illinois reports one-day record

Officials warning of second surge for new coronavirus cases

CHICAGO — Illinois health officials on Saturday reported a one-day record for number of new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, adding 6,161 individual cases to the state total.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also reported that 63 more people have died of the virus, bringing the statewide total of deaths to 9,481 since the start of the pandemic. Illinois has reported 370,194 confirmed cases statewide since March.

The daily count of new confirmed cases can vary from one day to the next, but Illinois officials have warned in recent days that results show that the state is experiencing a second surge of the virus.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other officials have pleaded with people to wear face coverings and take other precautions, while the state and the city of Chicago reinstated some economic restrictions in hopes of limiting the virus’ spread in some areas.

Illinois has dramatically increased the number of tests collected across the state since the spring. Saturday’s report included 83,517 test results, for instance.

But authorities remain concerned about a steady increase in the percentage of positive results. On Saturday, the state reported that 6.1 percent of test results have been positive during the past seven days, up from 5.2 percent a week ago. In other developments:

■ New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy once again signed an executive order to extend the state’s public health emergency, citing a steep increase in coronavirus cases in recent days. The extension was announced Saturday as the state’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases rose from about 770 cases on Oct. 9 to almost 1,090 cases on Oct. 23. The overall total of cases in New Jersey is more than 227,000.

■ Oklahoma registered more than 1,800 newly confirmed coronavirus cases. The state Department of Health report on Saturday comes one day after Gov. Kevin Stitt extended a state of emergency for 30 days. The health department reported 1,829 new cases, for a total of 115,685.

■ National Guard soldiers helped notify 800 people who tested positive for the coronavirus but initially weren’t told because of a backlog of cases. The backlog was due to a recent sharp increase in coronavirus cases. North Dakota leads the nation with more than 1,272 new cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

■ With the coronavirus pandemic worsening in Alabama, Dothan school officials are planning a “virtual day” to prepare for the possibility that classes will have to quit meeting in person. The system, located in southeastern Alabama, will have both junior high and high school students participate in online classes on Oct. 30 as a way of “proactively preparing for future closures,’” the Dothan Eagle reported.

■ A popular robotics competition in New Hampshire is going virtual this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Governor’s Cup FIRST Robotics Competition was being held Saturday. Nearly three dozen teams from high schools around the state are competing for awards and scholarships, including semester tuition waivers to state colleges. Participants took part in virtual workshops, games and lab tours.