Another 105 people have died of the coronavirus in Illinois, health officials said Saturday, raising the state’s pandemic death toll to 2,559.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said 2,450 more people have tested positive for COVID-19. That brings the state’s case total to 58,505.
The state received 15,208 coronavirus test results Friday, and about 300,000 people have been tested overall. The virus has been confirmed in 97 of the state’s 102 counties.
Despite the lofty numbers — daily case counts have topped 2,100 for a week — Illinois officials nonetheless say the state is flattening the curve.
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On Friday, Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced plans to dismantle most of the McCormick Place alternate care facility due to lower-than-expected hospitalizations across the state.
The temporary field hospital was originally built to hold 3,000 patients, then had its plans scaled down to fit just 1,000. As of Friday, though, only six patients remained at the facility.
At permanent hospitals across the state, ICU beds and ventilators remain far from capacity.
According to Illinois Dept. of Public Health data, 1,250 COVID-19 patients currently occupy ICU beds, compared to 1,460 beds occupied by patients with other ailments and 977 vacant beds. Only 789 COVID-19 patients are currently on ventilators, with another 2,383 available.
