Illinois might have scaled its Omicron peak, but the damaging effects of the state’s biggest COVID-19 case surge yet were felt as sharply as ever Thursday as public health officials reported 198 more viral deaths.
That’s the state’s third-worst daily toll ever, and the most fatalities reported in a day since Dec. 5, 2020 — almost two weeks before any life-saving vaccines had been administered — when 208 lives were lost. The worst day on record came three days before that with 238 COVID deaths, the after-effect of what at that time was the state’s largest case spike.
