Illinois health officials on Friday said another 68 people have died from the coronavirus, a day after Gov. J.B. Pritzker voiced some optimism the state might be bending the curve as residents continue abiding by a stay-at-home order.
Officials said there were 1,465 new positive cases of the virus, which has now been confirmed in 83 of 102 counties. In total, 596 people have died in Illinois from the outbreak, among 17,887 who have tested positive.
There were 6,679 new tests administered Thursday and 87,527 overall.
Pritzker’s office on Friday said it appeared hospital capacity is remaining steady and manageable in the face of the growing patient pool.
Even so, Dr. Nick Turkal, the executive director of the field hospital set up at McCormick Place, said he has assembled a team of 400 health care workers for the alternate care site, aimed at treating COVID-19 patients when — and if — hospitals overflow. Turkal said they’ll be prepared to take in patients by next week.
“When it’s time, we’re going to be ready,” Turkal said at a Friday afternoon press conference with Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
The mayor’s office said 600 workers spanning eight trades working in unison built up 2,250 patient rooms within just under two weeks at McCormick Place.
Pritzker’s office said 1,941 intensive care unit beds are in use in the state’s 211 hospitals, with 1,200 of those patients being treated for COVID-19. There are still 900 ICU beds available.
There are 1,206 ventilators being used statewide, with 790 of them in use by coronavirus patients. There are still 1,737 ventilators available, Pritzker’s office said.
Pritzker on Friday planned to talk about equity and making sure resources are directed to African American communities that have seen a disproportional impact of COVID-19. Administration officials are planning another drive-thru testing site in the south suburbs, as well as one in the Metro East region of the state. Several community health care centers on the West Side are also planning to administer more testing.
Despite the state on Wednesday seeing a record spike of 82 deaths, Pritzker said “our rate of rise is looking less and less exponential.”
“That indicates to us that we are, in fact, bending the curve. There is even some evidence that we may be moving toward a flatter curve. But we need to keep watching the data on a daily basis,” Pritzker said.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the head of the Illinois Department of Public Health, also said the state is “heading in the right direction.” And she warned that staying home is the best way to keep fighting it.
