Illinois Reports 1,105 New Coronavirus Cases; Deaths Now Total 65
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Illinois public health officials on Sunday announced 1,105 new cases of COVID-19 in Illinois in one day.
The new cases – a record jump for one day by far – brought the total to 4,596 confirmed cases statewide.
There were also 18 new deaths. For Cook County, they include a man in his 50s, two women in their 60s, two men in their 70s, three women in their 70s, two men in their 80s, and one woman in her 80s.
The deaths also included a man in his 60s from DuPage County, a man in his 40s and two men in their 90s in Kane County, a man in his 60s from Kendall County, a man in his 80s from LaSalle County, and a woman in her 70s from St. Clair County.
In total, there have now been 65 deaths in 47 Illinois counties.
Meanwhile, Gov. JB Pritzker on Sunday announced that the state is now averaging 4,000 tests per day – up from 2,000 tests at the time of the last update on Tuesday.
The testing is being conducted at three state labs, four commercial labs, and 15 labs based at hospitals.
Within 10 days, the state should have a capacity of 10,000 tests per day, Pritzker said.
"That marker, 10,000, is significant because it's the number of tests per day that scientists tell us that we need to get a holistic understanding of the virus in each of our 102 counties," Pritzker said.
In efforts to increase testing capacity, all state labs are running a second shift to run samples, and there will also be a third shift.
The state is also acquiring additional laboratory robotics to load 12 real-time testing machines – which will replace manual loading and shrink down the bottleneck for results.
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike emphasized that the state is working on increased health screenings – particularly in long-term care facilities and correctional centers. She said testing everyone who resides or works in such a facility with a positive case might not always be indicated but as more testing is available, there will be options to test more people as required.
Pritzker was also asked about construction projects that continue in Illinois despite worries about coronavirus exposure. He said it is "up to the companies," but, "anyone concerned should be reporting that to the Department of Public Health."
Pritzker also emphasized that the state has not hit its peak when it comes to coronavirus cases, nor has the city of Chicago. He said an increase in cases and deaths is expected.
Pritzker said models are showing a peak in April in Illinois.
