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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 12: A student receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Michele Clark High School on November 12, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. The city of Chicago closed all public schools today, declaring the day Vaccination Awareness Day, with the hope of getting as many students as possible vaccinated against COVID-19.
Illinois is in the top 15 states that have administered the most COVID-19 vaccines to their residents. But even if this is the case, there is still a surge in the number of active coronavirus patients in the area.
According to reports, 17,342,768 COVID-19 vaccines have already been administered in Illinois, equivalent to 81.32 percent.
Illinois records highest active COVID-19 cases to date
But on Friday, health officials reported 21,034 new COVID-19 cases in the state alongside 87 recent deaths. In total, 1,784,900 cases have been reported in Illinois since the pandemic started. And the total number of deaths has already reached 26,313.
The publication also revealed that the state is seeing more COVID-19 cases in a day compared to the past ten months.
And there are also ongoing worries that more cases will be reported as the weather gets colder and the holiday season approaches. After all, the number of cases in Illinois already surpassed their figures during the Delta variant outbreak.
Illinois youth most susceptible to deadly virus
As such, local doctors are encouraging everyone to mask up and get vaccinated. Children and young adults below 18 years old are asked to take extra precautions since there has been a 32 percent increase in cases among children aged 17 and younger.
"Here in the hospital, we've been seeing a greater uptick of COVID cases coming to in-patient floors. They have not been as sick, thankfully, but they are requiring some in-patient care and observation, so the numbers have been going up," Mike Cappello, vice-chair of Advocate Children's Hospital in Park Ridge, said via NBC Chicago.
Hospitalizations, deaths on an all-time high
According to the Chicago Tribune, the fall surge started late and slowed this year compared to last year. In the week before last year's Thanksgiving, the average number of daily cases was reported to be around 12,000. This year, the number of daily cases was reported at 2,000. But this year's upswing started a month later compared to last year.
According to Belleville News-Democrat, the hospitalizations in southwest Illinois also increased nine days straight, and it reached 67 on Thursday. Last year, the hospitalizations peaked at 233.
COVID-19 deaths in Illinois last year were reported at 138, but there are only 26 deaths recorded in the state as of Tuesday.
Even though this year's figures seem less than last year's numbers, it is important to note that Thanksgiving weekend has yet to occur, and the holidays are not here yet.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker won't run for re-election in 2022
While the state of Illinois is dealing with a surge in COVID-19 cases, their incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker is being dragged by Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger. The latter recently claimed that he's the only potential GOP candidate that could beat Pritzker in next year's gubernatorial race.
But Pritzker vowed not to let a Republican win. In fact, he also said that his goal is to win back the suburbs of Illinois, where Republicans tend to get higher votes. According to Business Insider, Pritzker has no plans to run for re-election in 2022.
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