Mercer County reports 9 new COVID cases; Illinois cases plummet 11.8%

Illinois reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 17,584 new cases. That's down 11.8% from the previous week's tally of 19,933 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Illinois ranked 21st among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 7.7% from the week before, with 436,694 cases reported. With 3.81% of the country's population, Illinois had 4.03% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 24 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Mercer County reported nine cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 20 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 4,645 cases and 51 deaths.

Across Illinois, cases fell in 72 counties, with the best declines in DuPage County, with 885 cases from 1,418 a week earlier; in Champaign County, with 442 cases from 837; and in Lake County, with 930 cases from 1,115. ​

Within Illinois, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Calhoun County with 338 cases per 100,000 per week; Edgar County with 286; and Jackson County with 278. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Cook County, with 6,659 cases; Will County, with 1,118 cases; and Lake County, with 930. Weekly case counts rose in 26 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Cook, Winnebago and McDonough counties.

In Illinois, 91 ​ people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 75 people were reported dead.

A total of 3,733,902 people in Illinois have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 39,536 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 95,658,236 people have tested positive and 1,053,419 people have died.

Illinois' COVID-19 hospital admissions staying flat

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 18. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

• Last week: 2,965
• The week before that: 3,013
• Four weeks ago: 3,294

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

• Last week: 57,618
• The week before that: 58,248
• Four weeks ago: 66,210

Hospitals in 15 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 14 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 22 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.