Hispanics Now Account For Largest Portion Of Coronavirus Cases In Illinois; 2,270 New Cases Overall, 136 Additional Deaths
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Illinois has surpassed 68,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and is nearing 3,000 deaths statewide, and state officials said the state's Latinx population now has the highest proportion of confirmed virus cases.
Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said there have been 2,270 new confirmed cases of the disease in the past day, including 136 deaths. As of Wednesday afternoon, Illinois has 68,232 confirmed cases in 97 counties, including 2,974 deaths. So far, 361,260 tests have been conducted in Illinois.
As of Wednesday, 4,832 virus patients were being treated in hospitals, including 1,231 in intensive care, and 780 on ventilators.
Ezike said the state's Hispanic population now accounts for the largest proportion of COVID-19 cases in Illinois. As of Wednesday, 17,240 of the people who have tested positive for the virus identified as Latinx, 14,809 have identified as white, 13,277 have identified as African American, 2,203 have identified as Asian, 99 have identified as Native American, 73 have identified as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 17,765 did not provide a race.
Gov. JB Pritzker said, while nearly half of all people who have taken a COVID-19 test did not provide demographic information, 7.6% of those who did - or more than 26,000 - self-identified as Hispanic. Nearly 60% of those tested positive for the virus, more than three times the statewide average.
"Our data from the start until today shines a concerning spotlight on which of our residents are most likely to get sick from COVID-19. Decades of institutional inequities and obstacles for members of our Latinx communities are now amplified in this pandemic," Pritzker said. "While we can't fix generations of history in the span of a few months, we must advance equity in our public health response today, everywhere and anywhere we can."
Earlier on Wednesday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Hispanics now account for 37% of the city's COVID-19 cases, and 25% of the city's virus deaths.
Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said, while testing is increasing throughout the city, it is leading to devastating conclusions.
"As the virus continues to shift across the city, it shifts place and ethnicity. We want to get the message out," Arwady said. "We continue always to investigate clusters and as we do outbreak investigation and workplaces some of them are large workplaces with a lot of Latinx employees. We are working to make sure that people are connected to care and connected to quarantine and isolation facilities and getting information."
City and state officials said getting information out to Spanish-speaking communities may be a challenge. That's why authorities have set up bilingual town halls, and focused on partnerships with Latinx community groups.
Ezike said the state is reviewing testing protocols, practices, and capacity to address the disparity in cases. The governor said the state has focused on testing partnerships with community health services that prioritize accessible services and have bilingual staff; such as Olivio Health Center, Erie Family Health Center, VNA Health Care, Esparanza Health, Howard Brown Health, and Greater Elgin Family Care Center.
According to Pritzker, of the more than 200 COVID-19 testing sites statewide, one third are located in communities with a Latinx population of at least 17%. All seven drive-through sites statewide offer also bilingual support.
The governor said, as Illinois builds out its contact tracing program, officials will continue to make a push for relationships with trusted partners in the Latinx community.
Meantime, Pritzker reminded Illinois residents that the expanded statewide stay-at-home order requires people who are medically able to wear a mask or face covering in public places when they can't maintain proper social distancing.
"It's on us to change how we think about face coverings. Protecting your fellow Americans by wearing a face covering in public is a collective act of patriotism, and doctors will tell you it's one of the best things we can do for public health right now," he said.
With Mother's Day coming up on Sunday, state officials also warned against expanding the circle of people with whom they have close contact. She stressed people should only have regular close contact with the people within their own household, no matter how tempting it might be to celebrate Mother's Day in person with their extended family.
"The whole point of where we are now is that I think we've tried to stress that we still don't have a cure, we still don't have a vaccine, so we really aren't that far from where we were a month ago, or before we started the stay-at-home order," Ezike said.
Ezike noted the elderly are still at high risk from the virus, despite encouraging signs that Illinois is flattening the curve of the outbreak.
"That really hasn't changed, and so we really don't want to put anyone at risk, especially our most vulnerable," she said. "Virtual hugs are still, I would say, the order of the day. Expanding your circle will increase your risk of infection. It's that simple. The more people you are around, the higher the risk of contracting the virus from someone in this new expanded circle."