State, National, Global COVID-19 Updates

Aug. 19, 2020

The Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) announced today 2,295 new COVID-19 cases and 25 deaths. The total number of cases in the state is 211,889 in 102 counties, with a total of 7,806 deaths. IDPH says that in the past 24 hours, 50,299 test specimens have been processed (new one-day high total), with a positivity rate of 4.56%. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity rate from August 12 to August 18 is 4.4%. Statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations in the past 24 hours increased from 1,510 patients to 1,519 patients. Of that figure, 334 patients were in the ICU, with 144 patients on ventilators.

Governor J.B. Pritzker said the state is especially concerned about troubling increases in COVID-19 positivity rates in regions 4 (Metro East), 5 (Southern Illinois), and 7 (Will/Kankakee counties). He noted only regions 1 (Northwest Illinois) and 6 (Champaign region) are seeing slight decreases in their positivity rates. See the state’s regional COVID-19 tracking data here.

Today’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures show more than 5.46 million confirmed and presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., with 171,012 deaths.

Today’s WHO Coronavirus Disease Dashboard shows nearly 22 million COVID-19 cases globally, with more than 775,000 deaths. The Region of the Americas (includes the U.S.) continues to lead the world with more than 11.7 million cases and more than 422,000 deaths.