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The seven-day average of newly confirmed coronavirus cases in Illinois set a new high on Monday, topping a number recorded as the virus was surging in late April and early May.

The seven-day average for new known cases reached 2,643 on Monday, up nearly 35% from a week earlier. The previous high was 2,565, set on May 4 and tied on May 7. At that time, however, statewide testing for COVID-19 was significantly lower than it is now.

State health officials announced 2,742 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the sixth day in a row with more than 2,600 cases. There have now been 321,892 known cases statewide since the pandemic began.

Officials also announced 13 more fatalities, bringing the statewide death toll to 8,997.

The percentage of coronavirus tests returning positive results has been increasing in recent days. The average statewide positivity rate was 4.3% for the week ending Sunday, up from 3.4% a week earlier.

Health officials look at the seven-day averages of new cases and positivity rates to smooth out daily fluctuations in the data.

The number of new cases reported over the past week has increased sharply, even as testing has remained relatively stable.

A week ago, the state’s seven-day average for new cases was 1,965. Monday’s number is up 35% from that, while the average number of daily tests increased only about 7% during the same period.

Despite the recent increases in new cases and the statewide positivity rate, the seven-day average for daily deaths is considerably lower now than it was in early May, when the state was averaging around 100 COVID-19-related deaths per day.

The seven-day average for daily fatalities was 28 on Monday, up from 27 a week earlier. But the average had been below 20 deaths per day from mid-July through mid-August and has since been on the rise.

While the state’s positivity rate has been increasing, it remains below the 5% threshold recommended by the World Health Organization. The WHO has recommended that governments consider reopening only when the positivity rate remains below 5% for 14 days.

Illinois has used a more lenient standard in its reopening plan. For example, the Metro East region near St. Louis was allowed to return to phase four of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan on Friday after keeping its rolling positivity rate below 6.5% for three straight days.

On Sunday, Gov. Pritzker came out of self-isolation, his staff said. It had been 14 days since Pritzker last had contact with a staff member who later tested positive for COVID-19, according to the governor’s office.

Pritzker’s office announced Sept. 29 that the governor and his close contacts were entering a period of self-isolation after a staff member tested positive after developing symptoms consistent with coronavirus. That unidentified staff member traveled with Pritzker to two Downstate events in the days before testing positive, the latest of which was a trip to Marseilles on Sept. 27, according to the governor’s office.

Pritzker previously self-isolated in his Chicago home for several days in May, after a senior staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

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