Precipitous peak: Omicron surge shows signs of easing — but officials warn in weeks ahead ‘hundreds more may die’

Trailers intended to store bodies amid a COVID-19 surge are parked outside the Cook County Institute of Forensic Medicine earlier this month. Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned Wednesday that “hundreds more may die among the thousands who are already seriously ill with COVID.” | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file

Illinois has made it through the worst of the Omicron storm, officials said Wednesday — even though the state reported its worst one-day COVID-19 death toll in more than a year.

With case counts and new hospitalizations dipping slightly for a week after the largest surge of the pandemic, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady both voiced hope that the highest coronavirus peak yet has been scaled.