Illinois now has seen 255,643 total cases of the virus and 8,242 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 4,575,721 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Wednesday, Illinois had 1,609 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 346 were in intensive care units, and 141 were on ventilators.

In a Thursday news conference, IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike encouraged state residents to continue to wear a mask or face covering in public.

“There’s power in your face covering,” Ezike said. “Collectively, we could save thousands of lives, and we could save millions of dollars when we think of the jobs saved, the businesses saved, the health care dollars saved.”

Regional update: According to a July 15 update to Gov. JB Pritzker’s COVID-19 response plan, the state will be tracking public health metrics in a slightly different way to monitor any potential resurgences of COVID-19. Additional restrictions can be placed on any of the state’s 11 health regions if the region sustains an increase in its average positivity rate for seven days out of a 10-day period.

A region also may become more restrictive if there is a seven-day increase in hospital admissions for COVID-19-related illness or a reduction in hospital medical/surgical beds or ICU capacity below 20%. If a region reports three consecutive days with more than an 8% average positivity rate, additional infection mitigation will be considered through a tiered system of restriction guidelines offered by the IDPH.

The North Suburban region (McHenry and Lake counties) has seen five days of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate increased for the fourth straight day to 6.3%. Currently, 48% and 61% of medical/surgical beds and ICU beds are available, respectively.

The West Suburban region (DuPage and Kane counties) has seen four days of positivity increases and three days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate remained flat at 5.5%. Currently, 38% and 51% of medical/surgical beds and ICU beds are available, respectively.

The South Suburban region (Will and Kankakee counties) has seen one day of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate increased slightly to 7.5%.

Additional mitigation measures from the IDPH have been placed on the region, and the region has gotten down below 8%. If it can hold below 8%, it will avoid additional mitigations. To return to the standard Phase 4 restrictions, the region will need to maintain an average positivity rate of less than or equal to 6.5% over a 14-day period. Currently, 34% and 37% of medical/surgical beds and ICU beds are available, respectively.

In a Thursday news conference, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said migitations will remain in place for this region.

“Assuming things continue in the right direction, Region 7 will stay put in its current mitigation status until the average falls below 6.5 percent,” Pritzker said. “I’m hopeful that Region 7 might become a testament to the community’s ability to turn this ship around in the right direction.”

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) has seen five days of positivity increases and one day of hospital admission increases, a decrease in both metrics. The region’s positivity rate decreased to 5.6%. Currently, 46% and 52% of medical/surgical beds and ICU beds are available, respectively.

The North-Central region (Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren and Woodford counties) has seen four days of positivity increases and three days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate increased to 7.2%. Currently, 48% and 46% of medical/surgical beds and ICU beds are available, respectively.

Chicago has seen two days of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases. The region’s positivity rate remained flat at 5.1%. Currently, 33% and 44% of medical/surgical beds and ICU beds are available, respectively.

Suburban Cook County has seen three days of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases, a decrease in both metrics. The region’s positivity rate remained flat at 6.2%. Currently, 35% and 43% of medical/surgical beds and ICU beds are available, respectively.

To see how other regions across the state are doing, see the full IDPH dashboard online.

Newly reported deaths include:

• Adams County: 1 male 90s

• Christian County: 1 female 50s

• Cook County: 2 males 60s, 1 female 70s

• Edgar County: 1 male 80s

• Ford County: 1 male 80s

• Henry County: 1 male 70s

• Jersey County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s

• Kane County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s

• Lake County: 1 male 70s

• Madison County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s

• McLean County; 1 male 70s

• Montgomery County: 1 female 70s

• Randolph County: 1 female 50s

• Rock Island County: 1 female 80s

• Sangamon County: 1 male 40s

• Shelby County: 1 male 90s

• Will County: 1 female 40s, 1 male 60s, 1 male 90s

• Winnebago County: 1 male 60s

• Woodford County: 1 male 80s