Illinois COVID-19 Testing Pushes Past Eight Million Mark

Exam Corp Lab employee, left, conducts a COVID-19 test at the parking lot of the facility in Niles, Ill., Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Illinois’ COVID-19 testing effort is over the eight-million mark. Health officials announced 75-hundred-38 new cases of the virus yesterday, along with 55 additional deaths. Hospitalizations are rising, reaching over 37-hundred, including more than 775 in intensive care and 327 on ventilators. Much of the state is facing stricter COVID-19 mitigation measures as the positivity rate rises above the eight-percent threshold for action.