30 p.m. – NBC Chicago
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is scheduled to give an update Wednesday on the “latest COVID-19 surge” in the state.
Details on what exactly Pritzker plans to discuss remain unclear, but the address is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. from Chicago’s James R. Thompson Center. (Watch live in the player above)
The state of Illinois reported more than 28,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with nearly 350,000 tests performed as officials continue to cope with the virulent omicron variant.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, a total of 28,110 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID were reported in the last 24 hours statewide.
In all, 2,488,380 cases of the virus have been reported since the pandemic began, and the state is now averaging 32,173 cases of COVID each day over the last week, a new record-high.
Officials say that 92 additional deaths were also reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the state to 28,660 during the pandemic. Another 3,368 deaths have been classified as “probable” COVID-19 fatalities, according to IDPH data.
The state’s positivity rates dropped for the second consecutive day, with 12% of all COVID tests coming back with positive results and 16.9% of all individuals tested returning positive results.
The state did set another hospitalization record on Tuesday, with 7,353 Illinois hospital patients currently infected with the virus. Of those patients, 1,152 are in intensive care unit beds, according to health data.
Pritzker’s address will come one day after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced she tested positive for the virus. The governor tweeted Tuesday that the announcement should encourage others to get vaccinated and boosted.
“I encourage all Illinoisans to follow in the Mayor’s footsteps and get vaccinated, get boosted, and get tested – it’s how we bring this pandemic to an end,” he wrote on Twitter.
Pritzker also worked remotely last week after coming into close contact with a state employee who later tested positive for coronavirus.
