12,623 New COVID-19 Cases in Illinois Reported Tuesday

The Illinois Department of Public Health Tuesday reported 12,623 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease in the state.

The Tuesday report indicated 79 additional deaths statewide.

The report also notes that one of those deaths occurred in Effingham County, a male in his 70s.

Coles County reported two more deaths; a female in her 70s and a female in her 80s.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from November 3 – November 9 is 12.0%.  This is the number that IDPH has been consistently reporting in its daily releases and is calculated using total cases over total tests.  Similar to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH has been using test positivity for regional mitigation metrics on its website since mid-July.  Test positivity is calculated using the number of COVID-19 positive tests over total tests.  On October 29, 2020, IDPH began reporting the statewide test positivity in its daily releases.  The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from November 3, 2020 – November 9, 2020 is 13.1%.

The Illinois Veterans’ Home LaSalle (IVHL) is reporting 3 new resident deaths in the past 24 hours. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 68 residents and 70 employees at IVHL have contracted COVID-19, including six residents who have passed away. IVHL has implemented testing, isolation, and sterilization protocols at the facility and is following all public health guidance in its continued response.

Case positivity and test positivity rate are both relevant and offer insight into the bigger COVID-19 picture.  Case positivity helps us understand whether changes in the number of confirmed cases is due to more testing or due to more infections.  Whereas, test positivity accounts for repeated testing and helps us understand how the virus is spreading in the population over time.

Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, beginning November 6, 2020 and going forward, IDPH will report confirmed cases and probable cases combined.  A confirmed case is laboratory confirmed via molecular test.  A probable case meets clinical criteria AND is epidemiologically linked or has a positive antigen test.  If a probable case is later confirmed, the case will be deduplicated and will only be counted once.  Probable deaths and confirmed deaths will continue to be reported separately. 

*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered.  For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.