While the summer surge of coronavirus driven by the highly contagious delta variant appears to be waning, September marked the deadliest month of the pandemic in Illinois since February, when the state was coming off the massive wave of fall and winter cases.

       The state reported 42 additional fatalities Thursday for a total of 1,023 in September, more than double the death toll of 506 in August and more than four times July’s 222 fatalities.

       It was the first time more than 1,000 deaths were reported in a month since February, when 1,273 were recorded. Deaths are a lagging indicator of the virus’s spread as can it take weeks for someone who gets infected to succumb to the disease.

       The pandemic’s deadliest month in Illinois was December, when 4,212 people died of COVID-19, according to state data. As of Thursday, the statewide death toll stood at 24,976 since the pandemic began.

       Emergency room personnel at Franklin Hospital in Benton have been dealing with a significant increase in demand for beds. Without an ICU, the small downstate hospital is forced to send patients to other hospitals or sometimes treat COVID patients in their emergency department, Sept. 15, 2021. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

       State health officials reported 3,344 new confirmed and probable cases Thursday, the highest one-day total in a week. But the average number of daily cases continues to drop. The average was 2,699 a day over the past week, down from a peak of 4,440 per day during the week ending Sept. 4.

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       The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide also has been dropping, reaching an average of 1,885 patients per day during the week ending Wednesday. That’s down from a recent peak of 2,304 patients per day during the week ending Sept. 9.

       There have been similar declines in the number of patients in intensive care units and on ventilators, though the health care system remains stretched very thin in some regions.

       In 20 counties in southern Illinois, a region that ran out of ICU beds about two weeks ago, there were just five available staffed ICU beds as of Wednesday night.

       The statewide case positivity rate — the percentage of new cases as a share of total tests — also is dropping. The seven-day average was 2.2% as of Wednesday, well below 4.8% at the start of the month.

       One factor in the declining positivity rate is likely the enormous increase in testing as students headed back to school and employers implemented programs to comply with vaccine mandates.

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       Vaccinations are on the rise, with an average of 23,885 doses administered per day during the week ending Wednesday. That’s up from an average of 18,824 per day a week earlier. It’s unclear if the rise is a result of the recent authorization of booster shots for certain people who received the Pfizer vaccine.

       Statewide, nearly 65% of the eligible population — those 12 and older — are fully vaccinated, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

       dpetrella@chicagotribune.com

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