COVID-19 infections are rising again in parts of Illinois like Blessing Hospital in Quincy

After a steady decline in cases statewide, some regions in Illinois are seeing an increase in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, which experts tie to nastier variants, fewer restrictions and uneven vaccination rates. At Blessing Hospital in Quincy, on the state’s western border, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has remained steady, at about 10. But the hospital also does COVID-19 testing, and it has seen the number of people testing positive roughly double since May, to 30 or more a week.