COVID-19 is now the third leading cause of death in Illinois.
11,014 Illinoisans have lost their battle with the virus, and Governor J.B. Pritzker said during his Wednesday COVID-19 update, the daily average of deaths is climbing.
“In August we were losing on average people per day to this horrible disease. Today that number is 83. COVID-19 is now the third leading cause of death in Illinois behind heart disease and cancer. Not only that, but between March and October COVID-19 took more lives than the next two highest causes, strokes and accidents combined.”
Those who most recently passed away in the state range in age from their 30’s to over 100, with more than 1,000 Illinoisans having died in just the last two weeks.
The number of new infections fell below 10,000 for the first time in 13 days today, with the Illinois Department of Public Health reporting 8,922 newly confirmed cases, and according to the Associated Press, the 140 additional deaths announced today is among the 10 highest daily death tolls since the pandemic hit Illinois in February.
According to an AP analysis of Illinois Department of Public Health data, the virus infected 300,000 people within the first 212 days. To double that number to the current 606,771 took just 46 days, including eight days to jump from 500,000 to 600,000.
Similarly, the death toll is rising at rates seen in the worst days of spring. It took 51 days to reach 3,000 deaths, just 33 days to reach 6,000, 125 to hit 9,000, and 36 days to reach its current total of 11,014.