Reply (Shutterstock) GENEVA, IL — While U.S. coronavirus cases and deaths have been trending downward over the past week, hospitals across the country still report straining to meet the demands of the ongoing pandemic. At the national level, during the week ending Jan. 25, deaths were running at an average of just under 3,100 a day — down from a peak of more than 3,350 in the weeks prior, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. New cases were averaging about 170,000 a day after hitting almost 250,000 earlier this month. Meanwhile, state health officials in Illinois reported to the federal government that 67 percent of all inpatient beds in hospitals across the state were still occupied as of Jan. 23. Around 11 percent of beds statewide were filled by COVID-19 patients, they reported.