FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2021, file photo, Ann Enderle R.N. attends to a COVID-19 patient in the Medical Intensive care unit (MICU) at St. Luke's Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have climbed to an average of more than 1,900 a day for the first time since early March, with experts saying the virus is preying largely on a select group: 71 million unvaccinated Americans. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File) (Kyle Green/AP)

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced 7,151 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 17 additional deaths Thursday.

As of late Wednesday, Illinois had 1,476 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 171 were in intensive care units and 43 were on ventilators. The 171 COVID-19 patients in the ICU is the most for the state since February 28, though far below the all-time high of 1,177 set on January 12.

For Wednesday, the state administered 15,330 vaccines.

From the IDPH’s data dashboard:

Case rate per 100,000: 38.9 (up 0.5 from Wednesday)

Percentage of ICU beds available: 18%

COVID-19-diagnosed hospital admissions (seven-day rolling average): 143 (Down 1 from Wednesday)

Illinois has seen 3,557,740 total cases of the virus, and 34,352 people have died.

County-by-county update: As of mid-April, the IDPH will provide a county-by-county update focusing on the case rate per 100,000 people, the percentage of ICU beds available, a rolling seven-day average of COVID-19-diagnosed hospital admissions and weekly deaths.

The definition of a COVID-19-diagnosed hospital admission is as follows: the seven-day average of daily number of hospital admissions given a diagnosis of COVID-19 as measured using the Illinois Syndromic Surveillance System.

Illinois collects all emergency department and inpatient visits through syndromic surveillance from all acute care hospitals in Illinois in near-real time. Data is presented with a three-day lag to allow time for diagnosis to be reported.

At the county level, a visit is counted by where the patient resides. A patient with multiple visits will be counted for each visit. Admissions may not be because of COVID-19 as the primary cause. Syndromic surveillance data is not the same source used by the CDC to report COVID-19 hospital admissions data.

Vaccine update: As of Thursday, the IDPH reported a total of 28,720,375 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 22,972,376 vaccines administered.

As of Thursday, 8,322,633 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 65.32% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

At Least 1 Dose: 9,680,708 (81.2%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

At Least 1 Dose: 9,202,046 (84.9%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

At Least 1 Dose: 8,497,846 (86.2%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

At Least 1 Dose: 1,973,997 (95%)

There can be as much as a 72-hour delay in reporting from health care providers on vaccines administered.

In northern Illinois, here is the percentage of the population fully vaccinated by county:

John Sahly is the digital editor for the Shaw Media Local News Network. He has been with Shaw Media since 2008, previously serving as the Northwest Herald's digital editor, and the Daily Chronicle sports editor and sports reporter.

Copyright © 2022 Shaw Local News Network

Copyright © 2022 Shaw Local News Network