Tri-County health officials on Monday reported nearly 2,500 new COVID-19 cases in the region, as the active caseload eclipsed 8,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic almost two years ago.
Figures provided by the Peoria City/County, Tazewell County, and Woodford County health departments indicated a total of 7,992 area residents are isolating at home with coronavirus infections. That does not include residents who may have taken over-the-counter tests that are not reported to public health agencies.
The region’s previous high for active cases — with hospitalizations included — was 7,082 on Dec. 14, 2020.
The current caseload for Peoria County is exactly 4,000, including 55 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 — down from 83 on Friday. Woodford County's caseload is up to 1,006 with 12 hospitalizations. Tazewell County reported 3,271 people in isolation, but its hospitalization data remains unavailable.
The three local health departments reported the addition of 2,473 new COVID-19 cases across the region since Friday, and seven more fatalities, pushing the death toll since March 2020 to 968 and the case count to 76,776.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), about 55.5% of Tri-County residents are fully vaccinated and 59.7% of the population has received at least one dose. As of Friday, the IDPH showed Peoria County's seven-day rolling positivity rate at 27.5%, with Tazewell County at 24.3% and Woodford County at 19.8%.
_
