Illinois appears to be "holding its own" in the fight against the coronavirus while neighboring states such as Indiana and Wisconsin have set records following a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in recent days, an NBC 5 Investigates analysis found.
In Illinois, cases have risen fairly steadily to the point where last week, the state's daily average new caseload topped the 2,000 mark once again.
But in Indiana and Wisconsin, where cases appear to be out of control, average daily coronavirus rates are far higher than they ever were when the pandemic first hit its peak in early May.
In Illinois and Chicago, cases never reached those original peak levels, but in the state as a whole, cases are beginning to inch closer to the May peak. Back then, when cases were raging across the state, Illinois reached a record average high of 2,565 cases per day.
By mid-June, however, Illinois accomplished a major feat as new cases fell all the way down to 596 average daily cases on June 18, according to the analysis.
Chicago has fared better than the state as a whole, and much, much better than neighboring states. Lately, the city’s trendline of daily cases has been rising slightly.
As of Monday, the city reported an average of 325 new coronavirus cases per day – which is less than a third the level of average cases the city saw when the pandemic peaked in Chicago on May 4.
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There is reason for concern when it comes to Illinois' daily coronavirus-related deaths, which are averaging 27 fatalities a day.
That trendline has been slowly rising since mid-August, when the city reported an average of 13 deaths per day – so – if this trend continues – the average daily death rate in Illinois has now doubled from its low point seven weeks ago.
As of Monday, 303,394 cases and 8,805 deaths have been reported in Illinois since the pandemic began.
