On Tuesday, Illinois reported a total number of 1,535 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state, an increase of 250 from yesterday. The state also announced four additional deaths – a Chicago resident in his 50s, two Cook County residents both in their 60s and a DuPage County resident in her 90s – adding the total deaths to 16 in Illinois.
In the Tri-County area, there are eight confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday afternoon – five in Peoria County, three in Woodford County and none in Tazewell County. All eight patients are currently at home in self-isolation and one of the cases is now considered recovered, according to Monica Hendrickson, administrator of the Peoria City County Health Department.
Marshall County, just north of Peoria County, now has one confirmed case. The patient, who’s now at home isolating, had no history of travel or contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 and is considered to be acquired through community transmission, according to the Bureau, Putnam and Marshall County Health Department.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said that based on all available data in Illinois, and of all positive cases of COVID-19, 54 percent of the patients are white, 33 percent are black, 5 percent are Asian and 11 percent are identified as Latino or Hispanic ethnicity.
According to Dr. Ezike, of all confirmed cases in Illinois, about 16 percent have resulted in hospitalization, and 4 percent resulted in admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Among all 16 deaths in Illinois, 15 people older than 60 and one man was in his 50s.
Ezike said that it is not easy to report these numbers every day, and she hopes people will remember that behind these numbers are real people with family and friends who care and worry about them.
“For those who have passed on, their loved ones are now grieving and don’t have the opportunity to celebrate their lives with traditional funerals and wakes. Let’s send our thoughts, support and prayers to all of those families and their friends,” Ezike said.
At the Tuesday afternoon briefing, Gov. JB Pritzker said that science will continue to be the driving factor for all his decisions, even if that means economic hardships.
“I’m not willing to sacrifice anyone,” Pritzker said. “I understand how difficult it is to see the economy slow down, and watch friends and neighbors laid off from jobs. Those concerns keep me up at night, too … You can’t have a livelihood without a life. As long as Americans still have breath in their lungs, we will find a way to survive and thrive.”
