Tri-County Approaches 500 COVID-19 Deaths; Active Cases Drop

With nine new fatalities announced Wednesday, the Tri-County area has moved to the brink of reaching 500 deaths linked to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

However, active cases in the region declined by nearly 300 in the past day, with 2,439 residents in home isolation and 90 coronavirus patients in Peoria-area hospitals, including 27 in intensive care units. Total infections increased by 148, to 30,488 since mid-March.

Five of the most recent victims were from Peoria County; they included a man and a woman both in their 50s, and three people from long-term care facilities. All four Tazewell County victims were at least 60, including a woman in her 90s from Washington Senior Living. The region’s death toll stands at 498.

Figures from the Illinois Department of Public Health’s online database show 19,258 doses of the COVID vaccine have been administered in the Tri-County area, with 1,659 people fully vaccinated.

Tri-County health officials are conducting an online survey to gauge residents' motivation to receive or not receive the vaccine, intending to use the results to focus educational outreach efforts in addressing community members’ concerns.

The IDPH reported 4,822 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, raising the number of infections in the state to 1,081,354 since the start of the pandemic. Illinois’ death toll from the pandemic has reached 18,398 with 107 additional fatalities since Tuesday.

The state's preliminary seven-day positivity rate is at 6.7%, while 3,284 Illinois residents are hospitalized, with 722 in ICUs and 379 on ventilators. The number of COVID vaccine doses administered is 537,740, with 112,823 people fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 in Tri-County

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