Illinois Nears 4,000 Deaths From COVID-19; 3,239 New Cases In Past Day, Including 138 Deaths
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With 3,239 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois in the past 24 hours, including 138 additional deaths, the state is now nearing a death toll of 4,000 since the start of the pandemic.
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said Illinois now has a total of 87,937 confirmed COVID-19 cases in 99 counties since the start of the outbreak, including 3,928 deaths.
In the past 24 hours, the state conducted 22,678 virus tests, and has completed 512,032 total tests to date.
Ezike said, as of Wednesday night, there were 4,473 coronavirus patients being treated in Illinois hospitals, including 1,132 in intensive care, and 689 on ventilators.
"COVID-19 is an equal opportunity virus," "Everyone is at risk of contracting this virus; no matter what county you live in, what municipality you live in. COVID-19 does not carwe about the color of your skin, or your political affiliation," Ezike said. "Let's all protect ourselves to minimize the ravages of this virus. Let's not let this virus succeed in dividing our families, our communities, or our state. Let's keep working together to end this pandemic."
Gov. JB Pritzker said all four regions of Illinois in his five-step "Restore Illinois" plan are now on pace to move to the third stage by May 29, the earliest possible date for the next phase under his Restore Illinois plan. To move on to Phase 3 of the reopening plan, a region must maintain a COVID-19 positivity rate of 20% or lower, and no more than a 10 percentage-point overall increase in cases for more than 14 days; have no overall increase, and maintain overall stability in virus hospitalizations for at least 28 days; and maintain a surge threshold of 14% availability of ICU beds, medical-surgical beds, and ventilators.
Pritzker said the positivity rate is an average of COVID-19 positive test results over a 14-day period. All four regions have been meeting the goal of declining hospitalizations, and three of the four had been meeting the testing goals. Until recently, the Northeast region -- which includes Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, McHenry, Will, Kendall, Grundy, and Kankakee counties -- had a positivity rate of more than 20%, but as of Thursday, its rate is down to 19.9%, putting it on pace to move to Phase 3 on May 29.
Under Phase 3 of Restore Illinois, non-essential manufacturing and other non-essenstial businesses would be allowed to reopen under approved safety guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health. Remote work, whenever possible, would still be encouraged.
Barber shops and salons would be allowed to reopen; and gyms and fitness clubs would be allowed to offer outdoor classes and one-on-one training; all with IDPH guidance. State parks also would be allowed to reopen, as would limited childcare and summer programs. Non-essential public gatherings of up to 10 people would be allowed, as opposed to the current limit of only essential gatherings of up to 10 people.
The governor said he's working with various industry leaders to come up with the guidelines for reopening businesses during Phase 3, and plans to announce those measures in the next week or two. He said he's also seeking ideas from businesses for how to keep employees and customers safe when they reopen.
Several elected officials in some of the outlying suburbs in the Northeast Region have complained about being included in the same region as Cook County, which has the largest virus outbreak in the state, and have argued they should be included in a different region. However, Pritzker said the map for the four regions was drawn up based on the state's 11 hospital regions, and advice from medical experts on how those 11 regions interact, as well as similarities in hospital availability.
"There's almost any way to draw this map. There are people who live in one area who say, 'Gee, I don't know anybody who's contracted COVID-19, and therefore my little area should be let out of some region.' But the reality is this is about healthcare resources," Pritzker said.
The governor also has noted that many people who live in the suburbs surrounding Cook County still work in Chicago, and travel to the city on a regular basis for their jobs as essential workers.
"People who live in one area don't necessarily stay in that one area the entire time. They travel outside of the county that they're in, or the city that they're in, and they do that frequently, and so we had to account for that as we were drawing the regions," Pritzker said.
Some sheriffs in Illinois have said they will not enforce the governor's stay-at-home orders, but Pritzker again warned on Thursday that "there will be consequences" if businesses open in defiance of his executive order.
The governor has warned any businesses that reopen in defiance of his executive order that the state could revoke their licenses, and said counties that try to reopen in defiance of the stay-at-home mandate might not be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for any damages they might cause by ignoring his executive order.
Illinois Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady has requested public hearings to discuss the governor's reopening plan when the Illinois General Assembly reconvenes for three days of session next week. In a letter to Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, Brady said lawmakers from both sides of the aisle should be able to ask the governor's staff "how they came to the conclusions in their plan, and what revisions they would accept to help get our economy back on track more quickly."
Pritzker, however, said he already already has had multiple discussions with Brady and other legislators about the plan.
"I'm very happy to have conversations with members of the opposite party, and with members of the General Assembly, and I've been doing so every single day. Indeed, Leader Brady has my number. I speak with him quite frequently. So there's no lack of communication. He knows where I stand," "I'm not sure what he's missing out on. It sounds like grandstanding to me," Pritzker said.
The governor has been working from home this week after a member of his staff tested positive for the virus. He has said he hopes to be able to travel to Springfield next week while lawmakers are in session, but will only do so if he's given approval to leave isolation after consulting with the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The governor said the senior staffer who tested positive has not shown any symptoms of the disease, and no one else on his senior staff has tested positive. Pritzker said if he does go to Springfield, he would work out of his office at the capitol, and stay at the Illinois Governor's Mansion.
