Thursday, 9 September 2021 (YJC)_ Public health officials in Illinois announced the state’s worst daily coronavirus death toll in almost seven months.
As Illinois’ Delta variant-fueled COVID-19 surge shows some possible signs of flagging, public health officials on Wednesday announced the state’s worst daily coronavirus death toll in almost seven months.
The 62 fatalities reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health were the most in a day since Feb. 19, when vaccines were scarce and the state was still coming down from its worst surge of the pandemic.
The virus has claimed an average of 31 lives each day over the last week, nearly matching the worst death rate during Illinois’ most recent previous resurgence in the spring.
The state is likely to soon surpass that figure as coronavirus hospitalizations hover near a seven-month high, too. COVID-19 patients were occupying 2,327 beds statewide Tuesday night.
Experts consider hospitalizations and deaths to be “lagging indicators” of the pandemic because it takes several weeks for a rise in cases to develop into more serious infections that end in tragedy.
So even if case numbers are flattening — as Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he’s “hopeful” is occurring — Illinois is still feeling the devastating effects of a tenfold spike in infections since the beginning of July. The virus has killed 241 residents so far this month, the vast majority of whom were unvaccinated.
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