Coronavirus illness toll rises to 64 in Illinois with 18 new cases, including first downstate

Gov. J.B. Pritzker provides an update on Illinois’ coronavirus situation Saturday at the Thompson Center. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Illinois’ coronavirus illness toll has hit 64 as authorities on Saturday confirmed the first cases reported downstate.

The 18 new cases mark the highest number of additional COVID-19 patients announced by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state health officials on a single day since the first patient was confirmed in Illinois Jan. 24.

The cases now span eight counties across the state, including southern and central Illinois. Previously, most had clustered around the Chicago area and Cook County.

That number is expected to rise significantly in the days ahead.

“We are starting to receive results from commercial laboratory testing,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike said. “With these additional results, we expect the number of identified cases to increase dramatically all across the state.”

Officials have urged people to telecommute to work if possible and travel only if absolutely necessary, as the metro area grinds further to a standstill in the wake of the viral spread.

But that didn’t stop hundreds of revelers from venturing out to bar crawls Saturday morning across the city even without any St. Patrick’s Day parade to celebrate — against the recommendations of health officials pleading for people to stay home.

That drew a stern rebuke from governor, who urged young people to “take this seriously.

“We need you to follow social distancing guidelines too,” Pritzker said. “You can have the unintended tragic effect of spreading COVID-19 to others who are more vulnerable.”

“We saw a lot of crowds out and about today and I need to be frank,” Pritzker said. “We have seen positive results in countries that took aggressive action to slow the spread and tragic outcomes in countries that did not.”

Despite the cancelation of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Chicago amid COVID-19 concerns, people barhop in River North Saturday.

The new cases include seven from Chicago, four from suburban Cook County, one each in Kane and Lake counties, a woman in her 60s at a DuPage County long-term care facility, a Woodford County man in his 70s, and a Cumberland County man in his 70s. Two St. Clair County women also tested positive, one in her 60s and another in her 70s.

Pritzker noted infection control measures are required for all nursing homes, including additional vigilance for respiratory illness, increased cleaning and visitor restrictions. The DuPage County nursing home where the woman in her 60s tested positive for COVID-19 was placed under a lockdown to monitor the health of its residents and staff.

Karen Ayala, executive director of the DuPage County Health Department, said her team was “not surprised” to see its first case of the virus.

“We’ve been working for weeks to prepare and be able to respond to this day,” Ayala said, adding that the long-term care facility had also taken preventative measures to prevent the virus’ spread. “We’re in the process of contacting everyone who’s been in close contact with the identified patient so they can be safely and quickly evaluated if a need arises.”

About a third of the 64 COVID-19 cases in Illinois are travel related, while another third are of patients had contact with another known COVID-19 case, Ezike said. The remaining cases could have been caused by community transmission.

She said that most patients are in isolation either at home or in a hospital, but several people have completely recovered. No one has died in the state.

“We’re just learning what our new normal looks like as we protect ourselves and our community,” said Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

The latest Illinois numbers came hours after President Donald Trump announced his administration will extend its European travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland, and is considering domestic travel bans as well.

The White House announced Saturday that Trump had tested negative for COVID-19 after he came into contact with two people at his Mar-a-Lago Club who were later diagnosed with the virus.

On Saturday, Pritzker announced officials would be filing a federal waiver to expand Medicaid coverage in the state. If approved, Pritzker said it would allow the state to add new medical providers and would increase access and services “to many of the state’s most vulnerable populations.”

A day earlier, Pritzker ordered all schools in Illinois closed through the end of March, ensuring more than 2.2 million students will be cooped up at home as authorities try to contain the outbreak. That includes more than 350,000 Chicago Public Schools students.

To help keep those kids busy, the Chicago Park District is offering programming at 18 parks starting next week — but canceling all other large events and programming “until further notice.”

Shelves are barren at an Avondale neighborhood Target store on Saturday.

Concerned Chicagoans preparing to hunker down for extended periods of “social distancing” continued to clear the shelves at stores across the city. Grocery stores have struggled to keep up with demand and long lines of people stocking up on the essentials — most notably hand sanitizer and toilet paper.

Pritzker also urged people who think they might be infected to “call a health care provider. Don’t just show up. Call first,” the governor said, “unless your condition is of a dire nature.”

Approximately 1,200 game-day United Center workers have been told they will continue to be paid for games that have been canceled after the NBA and NHL announced in recent days they would be suspending their seasons out of concerns about spreading coronavirus, according to a joint statement from Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, who is an investor in the Sun-Times.

The decision to pay the workers comes amidst fears that people who work in Chicago’s entertainment industry could go weeks or even months without pay, as the rapidly spreading coronavirus shuts down concert venues, theaters and entire sports leagues.

Elsewhere, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced jail visits would be canceled starting Sunday, along with all court-ordered evictions after a deputy came into contact with a man showing symptoms earlier this week. That person is under evaluation.

And the Chicago History Museum joined most other educational institutions across the city in temporarily shuttering out of coronavirus caution.

“The Chicago History Museum will review this decision on a week-by-week basis and reopen when we feel it is appropriate to do so,” officials said.