January is ending as the Tri-County's second-deadliest month of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local health officials on Monday reported eight new COVID-related fatalities since Friday. That pushes January's total for reported deaths in Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties to 132, exceeding every month over the past two years except December 2020, when it reached 146.
The region's cumulative death toll since the start of the pandemic is up to 1,059, while the case count stands at 89,013 after 794 new infections were logged over the weekend.
Peoria County saw active COVID-19 cases drop by 145 since Friday, with 45 patients hospitalized and 1,212 residents isolating at home. During the latest omicron variant-driven surge, the county’s caseload has declined steadily over the last three weeks since peaking at 4,170 on Jan. 11.
Woodford County currently has five hospitalizations among its 610 active cases, while caseload information for Tazewell County remains unavailable. The figures do not include results of people who took over-the-counter tests that are not reported to the public health departments.
Figures from the Illinois Department of Public Health show 56.5% of the Tri-County population is fully vaccinated and almost 61% of residents have received at least one shot.
